Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) admitted during a press conference on Friday it was Democrats' decision to withhold crucially needed aid for Americans suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
When asked by CNN reporter Manu Raju if it was a "mistake" to wait months for a concerted effort to pass a clean COVID relief bill, Pelosi got defensive.
"I’m going to tell you something — don’t characterize what we did before as a mistake, as a preface to your question if you want an answer. That was not a mistake, it was a decision, and it’s taken us to a place where we can do the right thing without other, shall we say, considerations in the legislation that we don’t want. Now, that is it. Now the fact is, I'm very proud of where we are," Pelosi said.
She went on to say the reason why she wants to pass a bill now is because Joe Biden has been declared the winner of the presidential election and a number of vaccines are being produced.
Nancy Pelosi admits it was her “decision” to block coronavirus relief for months pic.twitter.com/iHhVFTwrD1
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 4, 2020
Asked why she is on board with an apparently smaller coronavirus package, Speaker Pelosi cites the "game-changer" of vaccine development and Biden's election. "That's OK now because we have a new president. A president who recognizes we need to depend on science
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) December 4, 2020
Pelosi has said during months of “negotiations” that she would never accept a smaller COVID relief bill. Post-election, she now says she will and expresses a sense of urgency that should have existed all along. And when a deal passes, she’ll somehow get the lion’s share of credit
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) December 4, 2020