While Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues to capitalize on Wednesday’s riot, using it as an opportunity to threaten President Donald Trump’s removal from office, she has defended the faults of her own personal political strategy while dismissing the young, progressive members of her party.
In her recent interview with Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes,” Pelosi repeatedly pushed narratives fresh out of the corporate media echo chamber, calling for action against Trump for “inciting insurrection” at the Capitol.
“The person that’s running the executive branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States, and we’re only a number of days until we can be protected from him. But he has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him,” Pelosi said. “Shame on two-thirds of the Republican caucus in the house supporting those — so these people are enablers of the president’s behavior.”
Even though Pelosi expressed support for using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office, she also said congressional Democrats are not afraid to use another impeachment campaign to get what they want, saying, “Nothing is off the table.”
“I like the 25th Amendment because it gets rid of him. He’s out of office,” Pelosi said. “But there is strong support in the Congress for impeaching the president a second time. This president is guilty of inciting insurrection. He has to pay a price for that.”
Pelosi also repeated lies about Trump’s relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin, despite the years-long anti-Trump Russia collusion investigation blowing up in Democrats’ faces.
“What the president, again, has a tin ear, blind spot and whatever obligation. I don’t know what the Russians have on President Trump, whether it’s personal, whether it’s political, whether it’s financial. I don’t know what it is,” Pelosi said. “But there’s no other explaining why this president of the United States is such a handmaiden of Putin.”
Nancy Pelosi on 60 Minutes says that President Trump is a "handmaiden of Putin":
"I don't know what the Russians have on President Trump, whether it's personal, whether it's political, whether it's financial." pic.twitter.com/4dfxPRaYOk
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 11, 2021
When Stahl shifted the conversation away from Wednesday’s chaos and Trump to ask Pelosi tough questions about her own political strategies in blocking the COVID-19 relief bill, Pelosi was less than pleased. While the House speaker claimed that Democrats were set on forwarding an “agenda for America’s working families,” she became extremely defensive when Stahl suggested Pelosi was not good at compromising.
“You yourself are not known as a person who compromises,” Stahl began.
“No, I am. I’ll compromise,” Pelosi replied, blaming Republicans for “mischaracterizing” her.
Stahl continued to push Pelosi about her inability to work across the aisle, naming the Wuhan virus relief bill as a prime example, but once again, Pelosi went on the defensive and grappled for excuses.
“You held out for eight months,” Stahl said.
“No, no. We held it up because there was no — no respect for our heroes, our state and local health care workers, police and fire, our first responders, our sanitation, transportation, food workers, our teachers, our teachers, our teachers. They would not go down that path,” Pelosi said. “It wasn’t a mistake, and I would not, and nobody expects me to, to support something that solidifies injustice in our country.”
60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl calls out Speaker Pelosi for refusing to compromise on COVID relief:
"You held out for eight months." pic.twitter.com/zsR29IXbsq
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 11, 2021
Pelosi also became defensive when Stahl asked her about the lack of young, party progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in House leadership.
“You’re 80. Your number two, Steny Hoyer, is 81. Your number three, Jim Clyburn, is 80. Why haven’t you brought young people into the leadership?” Stahl asked.
“Because we have. You perhaps don’t know,” Pelosi interrupted.
“Why does AOC complain that you have not been grooming younger people for leadership?” Stahl continued.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her, because we are,” Pelosi insisted.
When Stahl noted Pelosi’s answer was “kind of sharp, kind of dismissing,” Pelosi fired back.
“I’m not dismissing her. I respect her. I think she’s very effective as are other — many other members in our caucus that the press doesn’t pay attention to. But they are there, and they are building support for what comes next,” Pelosi said.
Lesley Stahl asks "Why does AOC complain that you have not been grooming young people for leadership?"
Speaker Pelosi sharply responds "I don't know. You'll have to ask her. Because we are" pic.twitter.com/VMcZacd0rV
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 11, 2021
