House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised during her 2018 speaker election that 2022 would be her last year as the House leader. Fast forward to 2022, and the octogenarian appears to be hedging her bets, waiting to see if Democrats hold onto Congress.
The speaker appeared on a pair of Sunday morning talk shows where she was asked about plans for her political future. She declined to issue a decisive answer about whether she would run for another term as speaker, retire or cede the speaker role but stay in office.
“My decision will then be rooted in what- the wishes of my family and the wishes of my caucus,” Pelosi said. “But none of it will be very much considered until we see what the outcome of all of this is.”
Pressed to consider passing the speaker’s gavel, she made a veiled reference to continuing in office even if she is not speaker.
“But there are all kinds of ways to exert influence … speaker has awesome power, but I will always have influence,” Pelosi pontificated.
“I’m not making any comments until this election is finished,” she declared to ABC News.
Many members of Congress are unsure of their immediate future as voting continues in a number of races that will determine the next session’s makeup. Republicans currently lead Democrats with 211 of the 218 seats needed to control Congress. There are, however, enough too-close-to-call races that the question of which party will control Congress remains unsettled.
During her Sunday talk show interviews, Pelosi partially credited Biden for her party’s strong performance and whole-heartedly endorsed him to run a second term, according to a Daily Mail report.
“President Biden has been a great President for our country. He has accomplished so much,” Pelosi told ABC News’ “This Week.” Her words contrast markedly with other Democrats who reportedly consider the commander-in-chief as an albatross around their political careers.
Pelosi suggested on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the “horrible response” from Republicans to her husband Paul’s alleged assault may have dissuaded voters from supporting GOP candidates.
Most people condemned the alleged attack and wished the Pelosi family well, the Mail report noted. Voices on the right attempted to cast doubt about the incident. Elon Musk first linked to a Santa Monica Observer report that questioned Paul Pelosi’s supposed relationship with the intruder before deleting the tweet. Others question why San Francisco authorities refuse to release the 911 call, police body camera footage or even the suspect’s mug shot.
“But it wasn’t just the attack,” insisted Pelosi. “It was the Republican reaction to it, which was disgraceful.”
“The attack is horrible,” she continued. “I mean, imagine what – how I feel, as was the one who was the target, and my husband paying the price, and the traumatic effect on our family.”
“But that trauma is intensified by the ridiculous, disrespectful attitude that the Republicans – and there’s nobody disassociating themselves from the horrible response that they gave to it.”
The speaker later clarified she intends to remain on Capitol Hill for the foreseeable future.
“Finally, Madam Speaker, if you do decide to step away from Congress, how do you want your speakerships to be remember?’ George Stephanopoulos asked her.
“Well, I don’t have any plans to step away from Congress,” responded Pelosi. “I don’t– you asked me about running for leadership.”
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