Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Al Green, alongside with a number of activist groups, delivered a petition to Congress on Thursday containing what they said were 10 million signatures calling on lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

The two are vocal advocates of removing Mr. Trump from office: Green introduced the articles of impeachment shortly after Mr. Trump's inauguration in 2017, and Tlaib called on Congress to "impeach the motherf---er" in January. Tlaib also introduced a resolution in March calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Mr. Trump should be impeached, which has seven cosponsors.

The initiative was organized by a coalition of liberal groups, including Need to Impeach, an organization backed by billionaire Democratic activist Tom Steyer, a vocal advocate for impeachment. At an event outside the Capitol with activists before submitting the petition, Green challenged what he called the "myth" that Mr. Trump wants to be impeached.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib speaks during an event with activist groups to deliver over 10 million petition signatures to Congress urging the House to start impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill on May 9, 2019, in Washington, DC. / Getty Images

"The president does not want to be impeached. All would-be authoritarians, would-be tyrants, want to be loved. They want to be revered," Green said. "He would have us believe this. And in my neighborhood, we call this reverse psychology. This is merely his way of causing us to do that which he really wants us to do."

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His comments were a reference to those of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week, who said Mr. Trump was "goading" Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. Pelosi has not endorsed impeachment, and has said it would be incredibly divisive.

Tlaib said that starting impeachment proceedings would be fulfilling Congress's constitutional responsibilities.

"I think all of us want to protect our democracy and we love our country, and the complete chaos that you see before us with this current administration and this president — this is exactly why we have certain provisions in the United States Constitution," Tlaib said. "This is why we have impeachment process, is for those presidents currently, now, and in the past who think they think they can commit offenses that you and I would be held accountable and put in jail for."

In addition to Need to Impeach, representatives from liberal groups Free Speech For People, CREDO, MoveOn, Democracy for America, Women's March, Courage Campaign and By the People joined Tlaib and Green at the event.