House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) projected a lot of confidence Monday both that Democrats will retake control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming midterms and that she would be Speaker.
“If the election were held today the Democrats would handily win the House,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.
“I can only speak in the present tense because you never know in a couple of weeks,” Pelosi added.
Bash asked Pelosi if she thought she would be elected Speaker.
The question comes as some House Democrats have called for a change in leadership. In July, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), the fifth-ranking House Democrat, called for a “generational change” in the leadership, pointing out that the top three House Democrats, Pelosi, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and House Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-SC), are all “of the same generation,” in their late 70s.
"It is up to them to make that decision,” Pelosi told Bash, “but I feel pretty comfortable where I am."
.@DanaBashCNN: “If Democrats do win the majority, do you have any doubt that your colleagues will elect you House Speaker again?"
— CNN (@CNN) October 22, 2018
Nancy Pelosi: “It’s up to them to make that decision but I feel pretty comfortable… I am a great legislator" #CITIZENCNN https://t.co/6HB7IoYO7j pic.twitter.com/iskLjZV2uC
“Self-promotion is a terrible thing but clearly somebody has to do it,” she quipped.
"I am a great legislator," she said. "And one reason I am is because I recognize the contributions of others, our committee chairs and all the rest."
"I am also politically astute,” she continued. “I took them to a victory in 2006, I know how to do this."
Pelosi did acknowledge that “there has to be a transition at some point in all of this,” but emphasized that she’s not going to make herself “a lame duck.”
She concluded by hinting that the outcome of the 2020 presidential election may affect her decision-making in regards to stepping aside.
"I think that I have a special understanding, institutional memory, knowledge of the substance, knowledge of the legislative process that holds me in good stead for now,” she said. “We will see what happens in the Presidential (election) coming up."
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