Some have praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s decision to hold onto the two articles of impeachment passed against Donald Trump as a smart political move. During an appearance on MSNBC’s Weekends, Democratic congressman Emanuel Cleaver went so far as to say that Pelosi is using Sun Tzu’s The Art of War tactics to take control of Trump’s mental state, Breitbart reports.

“I think it is important for the people to understand Sun Tzu in ‘The Art of War’ – I’m paraphrasing him- he said that political battles are usually based on deception,” Cleaver said.

“I think Donald Trump falls for deception that Nancy Pelosi lays out there. For example, he thought, ‘OK, we are going to get articles of impeachment, and they are going to send them over to the Senate,’ Pelosi had deceived them. And at every turn, I think he is going to be facing the principles of ‘The Art of War.’”

Cleaver concluded by suggesting that Trump should try to predict Pelosi’s next move and claims that the 79-year-old politician is “in complete control” of the president’s mind.

Per The Indian Express, Tzu was a Chinese philosopher and military strategist who is believed to have lived approximately 2,500 years ago. At the heart of Tzu’s philosophy is the idea that mastering war is achieved by accomplishing strategic goals without ever going to war.

Rep. Dan Kildee on Trump’s tweets about Speaker Pelosi and Democrats: “If anybody's obsessed about impeachment, it's the President himself … He has a real problem dealing with Nancy Pelosi. He knows that she's smarter than he is. He knows that she's far tougher than he is” pic.twitter.com/5lP2o1sZiT — CNN (@CNN) December 28, 2019

Pelosi has previously spoken out against impeachment and suggested that it’s a path that should only be taken in the presence of “compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan” evidence, noting that the process isn’t worth it otherwise, per CNBC. Writing for the publication, John Ellis said Pelosi’s previous comments on impeachment imply her belief that in the current political environment, impeaching Trump will never be bipartisan and could reinvigorate Trump and his supporters during his re-election campaign.

According to Ellis, Trump “miscalculated” by believing that Pelosi would stop impeachment, which now leaves him as the third president ever to be impeached. Ellis suggests that the smartest thing Pelosi could do may be to hold onto the articles of impeachment, as they will likely not lead to Trump’s removal from office following the forthcoming Senate trial.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has claimed to be working with the White House on impeachment. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal claims that McConnell’s strategy has concerned some Republican senators behind the scenes.

As of now, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski has spoken out against McConnell’s comments about working with Trump’s administration during the upcoming Senate trial.