Here we go yet again. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made problematic comments at an Oxford Union debate on April 25 were unearthed over the weekend. They sound pretty similar to comments that Hillary Clinton made in September 2016, when she was the Democratic nominee, when she said you could place supporters of Donald Trump in a "basket of deplorables."
As Fox News explained, Pelosi was arguing against the view of populism and warning about supposed threats it posed. Specifically problematic is how she referred to those who may be a populist and/or "poor souls who are looking for some answers." As she mentioned, "we've given them to them, but they're blocked by some of their views on guns – they have the three Gs, guns, gays, God, that would be a woman's right to choose--and the cultural issues cloud some of their reception of an argument that really is in their interest."
Pelosi, like so many other Democrats, is focused on the "cultural issues," while overall Americans about economic and safety issues, areas where the Democrats are truly failing. But regardless of how much Democrats harp on "cultural issues" like abortion, it reeks of a sense of disdain that isn't going to help her party with voters. Pelosi may be in a safe seat, but President Joe Biden is at a real risk of losing reelection to Trump.
Further, Pelosi continues to do herself no personal favors when it comes to her faith, as she claims to be "very Catholic," yet still supports abortion on demand up until birth for any reason and paid for by taxpayer dollars. She's even been told by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone not to receive communion in the archdiocese for the pro-abortion fixation she refuses to give up.
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Pelosi was debating the issue as to whether populism is a threat to democracy in the United States, arguing that it was. Arguing that it was not was Winston Marshall, formerly of the band Mumford & Sons.
As Fox News also quoted Pelosi as saying:
Delivering remarks prior to Marshall, Pelosi said, "Democracy is the rule of law, democracy is free and fair elections, democracy is about independent judiciary, it's about freedom of the press to have transparency and to have accountability of elected officials to the people."
"It's about all of that, and that is everything that the populist regime in Washington, D.C., is against," she added. "Ethno-nationalistic populism, as is the threat to democracy, is about threatening what they call elites, a free press," she said. "It's about fighting issues that relate to free and fair elections, where we have voter suppression to the nth degree under this regime and its resistance to passing the Voting Rights Act, the John Lewis Act, all of that."
It would appear that populism is just like any other belief that Pelosi and her ilk don't like, which also means they're willing to claim constitute a supposed "threat to democracy." That's been a narrative of Pelosi and fellow Democrats, including and especially Biden himself, as we get closer to the November election.
During the debate, Marshall slammed Pelosi's remarks as "elite." He also provided more context for the term:
"'Populism' has become a word used synonymously with ‘racist.’ We've heard ‘ethno-nationalist,’ we have ‘bigot,’ we have ‘hillbilly,’ ‘redneck,’ we have ‘deplorable,’" Marshall said. Pelosi had argued in her remarks that contemporary American populism currently had an ethno-nationalist character.
"Elites use it to show their contempt for ordinary people," Marshall said.
Marshall argued that the change in meaning of the word "populist" is "a recent change," and pointed to a 2016 speech delivered by then-President Barack Obama, who he said "took umbrage with the notion that Trump be called a populist."
"If anything, Obama argued that he was the populist. If anything, Obama argued that Bernie was the populist," he said. "Something curious happens. If you watch Obama's speeches after that point, more and more recently, he uses the word ‘populist’ interchangeably with ‘strong man,’ ‘authoritarian.' The word changes meaning. It becomes a negative, a pejorative, a slur."
Not only did Pelosi express disdain for fellow Americans, but she doubled down on narratives about the 2016 election as well as the dismissal of expressing outrage for both the 2020 riots and January 6, 2021:
Highlighting the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, which he believed to be "a dark day for America, indeed," Marshall said: "I'm sure Congresswoman Pelosi will agree that the entire month of June 2020, when the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, was under siege and under insurrection by radical progressives, those, too, were dark days for America."
At that point, Pelosi raised her hand and said: "There is no equivalence there. . . . It is not like what happened on January 6th, which was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States."
"My point, though, is that all political movements are susceptible to violence and, indeed, insurrection," Marshall said. "Populism is not a threat to democracy. Populism is democracy. And why else have universal suffrage if not to keep elites in check?"
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Marshal shifted his focus to examining the elites, saying he believes that Trump should have accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election.
"So should Hillary in 2016, so should Brussels and Westminster in 2016, and so, too, should Congresswoman Pelosi instead of saying the 2016 election was, quote, ‘hijacked.’"
"It was," Pelosi interjected, drawing laughter from those in attendance.
"That doesn't mean we don't accept the results of it," she added.
It's worth reminding that even for all the cases against Trump, including for his actions on and leading up to January 6, 2021, he hasn't actually been charged with insurrection. Further, the Democratic Party is full of those who rant and rave about the 2016 election not being legitimate, including and especially House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).
Last month was not the only time that Pelosi made comments that can be likened to the "basket of deplorables" line from Hillary. As we covered at the time, Pelosi last September made similarly problematic remarks late last summer when she referred to Trump supporters as "people we would probably never get," claiming "they don't share our values in terms of respect for the dignity and worth of every person and the rest." And, again, this is a rabidly pro-abortion politician daring to claim the moral high ground on "respect for the dignity and worth of every person."
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