House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) painted internal criticism of her leadership as coming from the Republican Party.
Pelosi made the characterization on Thursday amid a defense of her position, when asked by reporters about her future in the wake of recent special election losses.
“I don’t think that any party should allow the opposite party to choose their leaders,” she said
“I don’t think members of our party should pick up the line of the Republicans,” Pelosi also stated. “And that’s what my members are coming back to me and saying: ‘Why are these people using their line?’”
The House Minority Leader made the latter comment when asked specifically about a tweet sent earlier in the morning by President Trump—one that sardonically praised Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“I certainly hope the Democrats do not force Nancy P out,” Trump tweeted. “That would be very bad for the Republican Party – and please let Cryin’ Chuck stay!”
Since 2010, House Democrats have lost 63 seats. And while many have attributed this trend to Republican gerrymandering, Democrats have also lost 14 US Senators and nine state governors in this time frame. Congressional redistricting doesn’t directly impact senatorial and gubernatorial elections.
The leader of House Democrats for more than 14 years, Pelosi faced renewed calls to resign from members of her own party this week after two Democratic candidates suffered defeat in special elections held on Tuesday, in Georgia and South Carolina.
The Democratic candidate in Georgia, Jon Ossoff, a committed centrist, was the only candidate in five recent special elections to be backed heavily by national Democrats. Ossoff’s opponent, Karen Handel, ended up winning the vote by 3.8 percentage points. In November 2016, Donald Trump only beat Hillary Clinton in the district by a single percentage point.
The loss, and ads linking Pelosi to Ossoff, led to Democratic House members attacking Pelosi in the press.
“I think you’d have to be an idiot to think we could win the House with Pelosi at the top,” Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) told Politico on Wednesday.
“There comes a time when every leader has to say, ‘For the good of the order and for the betterment of the party, it’s time for me to step aside,’” Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) also told the newspaper. “And I wish that that would happen right now.”
Notably, both Rice and Vela backed Pelosi in November, when her position was challenged by Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).
Although Pelosi handily beat Ryan, The Washington Post noted at the time that many Democrats were surprised that: “almost a third of the caucus was willing to vote for a backbench lawmaker with no major policy or political experience.”
Pelosi, however, stressed on Thursday that she believes she is under fire solely because of hatred from the right.
“I’m a master legislator. I’m a strategic, politically-astute leader. My leadership is recognized by many around the country and that is why I’m able to attract the support that I do,” she said, when asked directly to justify staying on as House Minority Leader.
Discussing attack ads, Pelosi said they stemmed from achievements dating from President Obama’s first term in office.
“We passed the Affordable Care Act. We passed Dodd-Frank. All the things that the big money was unhappy about,” she said.
Many people on the left, however, are also unhappy with both pieces of legislation. Prominent Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have repeatedly called for the breaking up of big banks, which have only increased in size since Dodd-Frank financial reform was passed.
And former Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) became the most popular politician in the country after a campaign that placed single-payer healthcare at center stage.
Despite polls showing a majority of Americans back single payer, Pelosi last month categorically rejected calls to put the policy in Democrats’ 2018 midterm platform.
“I was carrying single payer signs probably around before you born, so I understand that aspiration,” Pelosi told a reporter.
According to a Quinnipiac poll from late last month, 19 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents have an unfavorable view of Pelosi. And 46 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-34 view Pelosi unfavorably, while only 16 percent view her favorably.
