House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) essentially deflated her party’s hopes of impeaching President Trump, telling Democrats in a call Friday that the public “isn’t there” on impeachment, despite growing support among Democrats.

Pelosi spoke to Democrats in a caucus-wide call Friday and told them that the public “isn’t there” yet on impeachment, despite growing support among Democrats in the House. She rearticulated her long-held stance on following the “facts” and asked her colleagues for “leverage” to ensure their impeachment argument is “as strong as it can be” if the time for action comes.

“The public isn’t there on impeachment. It’s your voice and constituency, but give me the leverage I need to make sure that we’re ready and it is as strong as it can be,” Pelosi said, according to the Hill.

She continued:

The equities we have to weigh are our responsibility to protect and defend the Constitution and to be unifying and not dividing. But if and when we act, people will know he gave us no choice. If he cannot respect the Constitution, we’ll have to deal with that. It’s about patriotism, not partisanship.

“I myself have a nightguard, cause I find it very hard not to grind my teeth all night about what’s going on in the White House,” she added:

Meanwhile, @SpeakerPelosi on a call with House Dems speaks to impeachment, given the growing list of her members who support an inquiry. Her first point, and perhaps the most important: "The public isn’t there on impeachment." — Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) August 23, 2019

On impeachment, Pelosi told Rep. Watson-Coleman “the public isn’t there" and asked her to "give me the leverage I need to make sure that we’re ready and it is as strong as it can be." "But if and when we act, people will know he gave us no choice." — Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) August 23, 2019

As Breitbart News reported, the Democrats’ summer of impeachment has been, largely, a bust, and recent polls reflect Pelosi’s assessment. While the number of Democrats supporting impeachment proceedings continues to grow–more than half of the Democrat caucus supports impeachment–the American public is not on board.

Breitbart News highlighted:

A “clear majority” of 59 percent of Americans disagree that Trump should be impeached and compelled to leave the presidency, according to a Monmouth University Polling Institute poll released Thursday. Meanwhile, just over a third — 35 percent — of Americans feel that Trump should be impeached and compelled to leave. That number is a low since Monmouth began asking the question in July 2017. The high was 42 percent in March 2019. Furthermore, a majority of Americans say it is not a good idea for the House Judiciary Committee to conduct an impeachment inquiry — 51 percent. That is compared to the 41 percent who said it is a good idea.

Nonetheless, progressive activists are getting impatient with Pelosi. Some crashed an event honoring the speaker at a San Francisco hotel Wednesday, shouting, “Nancy Pelosi, do your job!” and holding signs that read, “Which side are you on, Pelosi? Impeach!”