Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) puzzled Americans as she made her final speech during closing statements after the House voted on the omnibus spending bill.
Closing out her speech, Pelosi wished people a happy holiday to different groups who celebrate something else than Christmas.
Except one of the holidays she mentioned doesn’t exist.
“Happy Shwanza,” Pelosi said, instead of saying “Happy Kwanzaa.”
“[It] will probably be my last speech as Speaker of the House,” Pelosi began, adding "I yield back the balance of my time and wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe New Year. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Shwanza. Happy Hanukah.”
In the aftermath, Twitter exploded in laughs mocking Pelosi for her mistake in pronouncing Kwanzaa wrong.
Author and U.S. Air Force veteran Shane Smedley thought Pelosi must have been hungry because it sounded like she was trying to say the Greek sandwich “shawarma.”
Shawarma? pic.twitter.com/fhUMDJI9GH
— Shane D. Smedley (@ShaneSmedley) December 23, 2022
Conservative digital strategist Greg Price poked fun at Pelosi saying “Happy Shwanza to all and all a good night.”
Meanwhile, former White House advisor Steve Bannon claimed that senators prefer Pelosi as speaker over House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
In an article on Getter, Bannon said the Senate “‘weighed and measured’ Kevin McCarthy as Speaker over the past few weeks and today they rendered their verdict —would rather let Nancy Pelosi govern for 1 more year….pathetic.”
Five Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla), have publicly opposed McCarthy as a speaker, while Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind) supports him.
“Kevin gave them an opportunity to negotiate in good faith,” a McCarthy advisor told Axios. “Now there’s going to be more of an effort to expose the craziness of what they’re doing.”
He reportedly is worried about how voting will go when the new Congress steps in on January 3.
Axios reported that he is attempting to “flip the script by capitalizing on growing impatience with the five.”