Jindal 'Rejects' Obama Impeachment Calls from Fellow Republicans

(CNN) -- Republican lawmakers who suggest there are grounds to impeach President Barack Obama are focusing their energy in the wrong direction, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said on Sunday.

Jindal, a Republican, said GOP lawmakers should focus instead on getting rid of Obama's signature health care law and promoting greater school choice for parents.

"Look, I reject that kind of talk," Jindal said of impeachment chatter, speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"The reality is I didn't like it when the left spent eight years trying to delegitimize President Bush, calling to question his election. I don't think we should be doing that to President Obama."

At least three congressional Republicans have floated impeachment this month while speaking with constituents at town halls.

On Thursday, video surfaced of Sen. Tom Coburn responding to a question from a constituent by asserting the president's policies were approaching a legal standard for impeachment. Without using specifics, the Oklahoma Republican pointed to what he called "intended violation of the law" by Obama's administration, as well as general incompetence of some of his appointees.

"I don't have the legal background to know if that rises to high crimes and misdemeanors -- but I think they're getting perilously close," Coburn said, adding Obama was a "personal friend."

Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold told his Texas constituents earlier in August that the House of Representatives "could probably get the votes" to impeach Obama.

And in a video posted online Tuesday, Rep. Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan responded to a woman during a Q&A session that "if I could write that bill and submit it," he said, moving to impeach Obama "would be a dream come true."

That sort of talk, Jindal said, wasn't going to help Republicans push through new policies.

"The reality is one of the great things about this country is we do have a peaceful transfer of power," he said. "I disagree with this president's policies, but instead of talking about impeachment, let's get out there and let's have a legitimate debate, let's fight his policies, let's try to repeal Obamacare, let's try to promote school choice, let's fight against more government spending."

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