House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argued that Republicans will be wounded in the down-ballot races this year because “when it was just Donald Trump being crude, and rude and disrespectful, they didn’t say boo.”
“So before, you know, they said, oh my, gosh, it’s shocking. But a lot of what he said before was objectionable, but they never said so, until it affected their election,” Pelosi told PBS on Monday.
She predicted the down ballot would see a greater impact than in 2012.
“I believe that this election will have a down-ballot influence because people are really tired of obstruction in Washington. And what the Republicans have said, and they’ve said it even today, that they’re prepared to obstruct. They call it checks and balances, but its obstruction. It’s exactly what they said around October 20th in 1996, right, when they gave up on winning the election against Bill Clinton,” she said. “…That is not fair to the American people.”
Democrats need 30 seats in the House for Pelosi to get back the speaker’s gavel — a fair hurdle to clear.
Pelosi reiterated the Dems’ refrain that congressional Republicans are inextricably linked to Trump.
“Look, Donald Trump is here today, gone tomorrow presidential candidate. For a long time now, he has echoed what the Republicans have been saying in Congress for a long time. He has influenced, they have power. And they have brought anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, specifically, anti- Muslim, anti-women legislation to the fore on the floor in committee and press conferences for a long time,” she said.
“…If you say you’re for Trump, you, by 11 points, you lose the moderates. And if you are say you’re against Trump by 11 points, you lose the Trump people. So damned if they do, damned if they don’t, forgive my crudeness.”
Pelosi said if Dems did take back the House, the legislative priority would be “middle-class economics.”
“That’s really the main thing, is how do we move forward as we did with our recovery plan first — one week after the president was sworn in, we passed a recovery act to create good-paying jobs, to lift up the middle class and those who aspire to it. So that, to act upon that, that would be creating jobs through infrastructure and the rest. So first, the economy,” she said.
The other two priorities of House Dems? “I’d rather lose the election if they said today we’ll pass a gun violence protection bill and immigration bill. Those two things are very important to the safety of the American people, which we have taken an oath to protect and defend, and also the character of America, a nation constantly invigorated by newcomers to our country,” Pelosi said. “Those two things are very important. Now, what would be on the agenda to begin with will depend on, of course, the president of the United States.”
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