- Pelosi urged Biden to step down after debate
- Supports Kamala Harris for 2024 presidential race
- Warns of Trump’s threat to democracy and women’s rights
Nancy Pelosi has acknowledged that she has yet to speak with Joe Biden since her pivotal intervention in July. This intervention resulted in his decision to withdraw from the presidential campaign after a disastrously feeble performance in a debate against Trump.
The former speaker of the House told the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland on the Politics Weekly America podcast that, while she still considers the president of the United States to be a great friend and longtime political ally, she felt a cold political calculation was required in light of the evidence of Biden’s declining mental capacity.
“Not since then, no,” she answered when asked if she had communicated with Biden since then. “But I’m prayerful about it.”
She continued, “I have the utmost regard for him. “I believe he is one of our country’s most influential presidents,” she stated. “I believe his legacy ought to be protected. I didn’t see that happening while the election was going on. My call was simple: ‘Let’s get on a better course.’ He will decide what that is. And he made the decision. But I believe he is uneasy since we have been friends for decades.
Elections are decisions,” she explained. “You choose to win. I resolved that Donald Trump will never return to the White House as president or in any other capacity. So when you make a decision, you must make every decision in favor of winning… and the most crucial decision is the candidate.”
Pelosi acknowledged that while some in Biden’s campaign may not have forgiven her for her involvement in limiting Biden’s legacy to one term, a Trump victory would have had a similar negative impact on his legacy.
Pelosi, known as a uniquely influential House speaker, especially during a Biden administration that passed major infrastructure and climate legislation, was widely regarded as a senior Democrat willing to suggest that Biden reconsider his re-election bid when polls showed Trump trouncing him.
After Biden stepped out, Pelosi encouraged the party to choose Kamala Harris, and she earned another triumph when the vice president chose former congressman Tim Walz as her running mate.
Pelosi has also been a longtime thorn in Trump’s side, repeatedly antagonizing him into posting long rants about her on social media and openly ripping up his State of the Union speech in 2020 on the House of Representatives floor, calling it a “manifesto of mistruths.”
Pelosi explained her unique ability to hold together a fragile coalition of centrist and progressive Democrats, saying that she believed “leadership is about respect, about consensus building,” while mocking Trump’s ability to do so, particularly his hateful rhetoric toward immigrants, whom he has described as “poisoning the blood of this country.”
“I hardly ever say his name,” she says of Trump, referring to him as “what’s-his-name.”
“I think [Trump] is a grotesque word…” You dislike the word that passes your lips. I don’t. I’m terrified because, as a Catholic, I grew up believing that if you used a terrible word, you might burn in hell if you didn’t confess. So, I do not want to take any chances.
“It’s up there with like, swearing”
In her new book, The Art of Power, Pelosi discusses her experience as the first woman speaker of the House and her disappointment with Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, but she remains hopeful that Harris will make history where Clinton failed.
She said, “I always thought America was more ready for a woman president than a woman speaker of the House.” “Congress of the United States is not a glass ceiling. It is a marble ceiling. And it was quite difficult to advance there. However, I believe the public has a better attitude… If I were in Congress, they’d say: “Understand this, there’s been a pecking order here for a long time of men who’ve been waiting for openings to happen and take their turn.” And I remarked, “That is interesting. We’ve been waiting for almost 200 years.
She did, however, commend Harris for not running as “the first woman or first woman of color.” She relies on her strengths, including her knowledge of policy, strategy, presentation, etc., and believes that this is a different race than the one Hillary Clinton ran.
Noting that more women favor Harris and more males support Trump by large proportions, Pelosi stated, “The reason there’s such a gender gulf is because there’s such a gulf in terms of policies that affect women.
“A woman’s freedom to choose is a personal matter. It is both an economic and a democratic issue. This is about independence, the ability to manage your own life.”
“What is a democracy?” It is a free and fair election. This is a peaceful transition of power. It is an independent judiciary that upholds the personal liberties guaranteed by our constitution’s Bill of Rights. And he assaults those by being particularly harsh on women. Did you see it the other day? He called Kamala Harris retarded. This is an individual running for President of the United States.
“Does he have no regard for the office? Has he no respect for communication?”
Pelosi expressed her fear of political violence, noting that misinformation spread by Trump had created an environment in which the US disaster response agency Fema had to withdraw rescue workers from hurricane-hit areas of North Carolina following reports of militia trucks claiming to be hunting Fema workers.
“This is springing from the top,” she remarked of Trump’s involvement in inciting political unrest. “He takes pride in doing it. Don’t accept it from me but from him.
After an armed intruder attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, in their home after breaking in with the intent to harm her, many Republicans made jokes, including Trump’s son, Donald Jr., who recommended dressing up as Paul Pelosi for Halloween.
“Some Republicans were laughing and making jokes during the event, which was heartbreaking for my children and grandchildren: his son and everyone else who was making jokes about it right away. We had no idea if he was going to live or die.
When asked if she agreed with the recent words by the former chairwoman of the joint chiefs, Mark Milley, a Trump appointment, that Trump was “a fascist to the core,” Pelosi stated:
“Yes, I do.” I do. And I know it’s interesting because Kamala Harris claims, “I’ve prosecuted people like Trump.” I know men like that. “No, I know him,” she insisted, emphasizing Trump.
“There’s one photo of me leaving the Roosevelt Room during the cabinet meeting.” And I point to him and say, “I am leaving this meeting because, with you, Mr. President, all roads lead to Putin.” [Milley’s] statement, ‘fascist to the core,’ refers to his deeds. Fascist governments’ tactics include trivializing the press and spreading fake news.
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She noted that a possible replay of January 6 was a significant reason Democrats needed to win the House in 2024. “Hakeem Jeffries must have the gavel, which means that we have the majority of the votes to accept the results of the electoral college for the peaceful transfer of power.”
‘”No one could have predicted a revolt incited by the president of the United States. But he may attempt it again as an outsider and a loser in this election.”
Later in the interview, Pelosi mentioned Trump’s name but stopped herself. “I mentioned his name. Oh my goodness. I hope I do not burn in hell.”
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