Democratic lawmakers are furious with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over her public comments on the party’s recent electoral shortcomings.
Multiple Democrats told Axios, anonymously, that Pelosi’s remarks are not only unhelpful but detrimental.
“She needs to take a seat,” one senior Democrat remarked. “Making scattershot comments is not just unhelpful, it’s damaging.”
The sentiment among some Democrats is that Pelosi should allow Hakeem Jeffries, the current House Democratic leader, to take the reins.
A Congressional Black Caucus member shared, “Hakeem has been tremendously graceful and respectful of her, but I don’t think she is being respectful of him.”
Despite stepping down as party leader in January 2023, Pelosi remains in Congress as a regular lawmaker at age 84.
Some believe she is struggling to relinquish her authority. “I understand that this is a difficult transition for her, not being the leader, but she is not,” noted the same Caucus member.
Pelosi’s recent interview with The New York Times stoked discontent among Democrats.
She suggested the party would have benefited if President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid earlier, allowing for a primary.
Her comments implied the party missed an opportunity for a different candidate due to Biden’s immediate endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” she remarked.
“Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that,” she told the outlet. “That didn’t happen. We live with what happened.”
“And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different,” she said, blaming Biden.
Pelosi believes cultural issues played a larger role in the party’s losses than economic ones. “Guns, God, and gays—those are the issues,” she explained, alluding to how these topics are prioritized over rights such as a woman’s right to choose.
One lawmaker who openly criticized Pelosi was Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), who pointed out her influence in pushing Biden to withdraw his candidacy.
In an interview with Politico, Fetterman commented, “People like [Nancy] Pelosi, she really tried to—what’s the word I’m looking for?—she embraced this ‘she’s the godmother, she’s the enforcer.’ And now she’s blaming Biden.”
Fetterman pointed out the inconsistency, saying, “Well, you can’t have it both ways. You got what you wanted, and now you’re still blaming Biden.”
“I think it’s really ironic that you have a woman at age 84 and she is still hanging on. Why not give a younger generation an opportunity to occupy that seat?” he added.
Nancy Pelosi should have sat down and shut up years ago! Over the years, she has created a lot of misery!
Democrats like Pelosi are all about power, nothing else.
I still remember how disrespectful Pelosi was during Trump’s first term when she openly tore up his State of the Union speach for everyone to see. She allowed her hatred for the man to show in a way that didn’t sit well with a lot of folks and we still remember. There are a lot better ways to disagree with someone or something so both Nancy and Hillary should work at finding them if they want to be respected themselves.