President Donald Trump's impeachment trial will eventually open in the Senate, but the question of when depends on how long House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can deal with "being sort of ridiculed and looking silly," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Friday.
"She can't negotiate with [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell," Gingrich told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "McConnell is one of the most formidable leaders in the history of the Senate."
He added that Pelosi "looks foolish," including with her actions during the impeachment vote on Wednesday.
"She told all of her members, 'look solemn. Don't celebrate. Don't smile,'" said Gingrich. "When a bunch started to make noise she stared at them and then she goes out a few minutes later, surprises the press corps, and announces she won't send the impeachment over. Talk about making the whole thing look absurd."
Meanwhile, Trump is "ignoring them and wanders around getting things done and holding big rallies, and McConnell keeps getting judges approved," said Gingrich.
The former speaker also commented on a Bloomberg opinion piece by Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman, one of the legal experts for the Democrats during the House Judiciary Committee's testimony on impeachment.
In his article, Feldman writes that there is no timeline for Pelosi agreeing for the House to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate, but the House must send the articles and managers to the Senate to prosecute the case.
"If the House does not communicate its impeachment to the Senate, it hasn't actually impeached the president," said Feldman. "If the articles are not transmitted, Trump could legitimately say that he wasn't truly impeached at all."
Gingrich said a "brilliant lawyer" friend of his told him Thursday that he thinks if the articles aren't delivered before the House goes out of session, the process "basically dies on the vine," but he added that he is not sure if that is true.
However, the longer the impasse goes on, the worse Pelosi and House Democrats look, Gingrich noted
They "will look more narrow and partisan," he said. "Not a very good place to be."