House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been playing games with people's livelihoods this year. How else can she explain why she rejected earlier, bigger COVID relief deals offered from the White House, such as the $1.8 trillion deal presented by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin this fall?
CNN's Manu Raju told Twitter that he tried to ask the speaker about her confounding rationale, but she completely ignored him.
Pelosi wouldn’t answer my question about why the $900 billion deal is more acceptable to her than the $1.8 trillion offer Mnuchin made to her this fall.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 21, 2020
And the stonewalling continued:
"Pelosi wouldn’t call on me at the press conference, which is becoming a pattern, even though just five reporters were there," Raju reported. "She left the press conference as I asked her the question. And she ignored my question in the hallway as well...Asked again in the hallways why this proposal is more acceptable than the Mnuchin plan, Pelosi didn’t respond. But Schumer, who was walking with her in the hallway, said: 'Ask Mitch McConnell.'"
Raju challenged his explanation.
"It’s true that McConnell and Senate Republicans objected to Mnuchin’s $1.8 trillion plan, but so did Pelosi, who said in October: "This proposal amounted to one step forward, two steps back,” he noted.
A few weeks ago Pelosi herself admitted that she was waiting to see how the presidential election turned out before she considered striking a COVID relief deal. She snapped at Raju at that press conference for suggesting it was a "mistake" for Democrats to hold up the process.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) knows exactly what Raju is getting at. He said that Pelosi owes the American people an apology.
Never forget: Nancy Pelosi held this deal up to play politics and hurt Republicans at the polls.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) December 21, 2020
For months she let small businesses die on the vine.
For months she let workers lose their jobs.
For months she let families struggle.
She owes all of these people an apology. pic.twitter.com/8FG8lk3pX4