House minority leader Nancy Pelosi strained to explain just what it is Democrats stand for right now during an interview Sunday morning on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” with fill-in host Jonathan Capehart.
The longtime Democratic lawmaker from California even claimed (incredibly) that mainstream television network NBC is trying to undermine her chances of retaining the speaker’s gavel in the fall.
She made that latter comment when Capehart mentioned the network’s coverage of Dems who may not support her speakership in a recent segment.
“First of all, let me just say this, and I know NBC has been on a jag of this … This is one of their priorities, is to undermine me as speaker … but putting that aside, I have not asked one person for a vote …”
Earlier in the interview, Capehart had tried to get Pelosi to nail down exactly what Democrats stand for in 2018.
“Let’s get into the midterm elections. Democrats are hoping to reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives, which they lost in the 2010 midterm elections,” said Capehart. “There are a lot of people out there, particularly Democrats, who are saying the Democrats have no message, the Democrats —they don’t know what they’re for, they know they’re against President Trump, but they don’t know what they’re for.”
Pelosi proceeded to muddle through a lackluster reply that seemed like more of the same old standard Democratic lines that lacked specifics and grasped at old liberal tropes.
Seemingly devoid of the energy and enthusiasm she would need to retain control in the House, she answered in a rote and almost halting fashion.
“Democrats are for the people. Democrats are for the people,” Pelosi responded. “It means we are for the people having lower health care costs, reducing the costs of prescription drugs. Democrats are for bigger paychecks by building the infrastructure of America, creating good-paying jobs.”
Meanwhile, under President Donald Trump’s administration, the American economy is robust, with a 4.1 percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate. He’s also called for definitive action on lowering prescription drug costs.
Touting a tired old line, Pelosi said, “Democrats are for reducing the role of big dark money in politics … because the culture of corruption, cronyism, and incompetence that is prevalent in this Congress, in this administration, impedes the ability for us to raise the minimum wage, to clean the air, to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.”
“It’s not that we don’t know what we stand with — how do we convey the message, and every day we have a fight. What we have to do is brag about it more,” she continued.
As the 2018 midterms grow closer, many Democrats in Congress and others running for seats have declined to announce their support for Pelosi if that party reclaims the House.
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