Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday and despite the role she had in ousting President Joe Biden from the race back in July, she doesn't seem to be all that comfortable talking about the race. In fact, she even snapped at Tapper for daring to ask her about criticisms that former and potentially future President Donald Trump has about Vice President Kamala Harris.
To begin the segment, Tapper brought up how Harris takes quite a long time to get to an actual answer, which often involves reminding people she's from a middle-class family. Sometimes Harris doesn't even provide one at all.
In responding to Tapper's questions about what Harris should be doing with her responses, Pelosi offered that "people like to have a connection to whoever is running for office, that they share their experience, that they understand their lives," also offering "and I think that's what she is establishing."
Despite how Pelosi acknowledged how "I do think that the one issue in terms of the cost of living, people want to hear something very specific," she also claimed that "I have no complaints about how [Harris] is going forward."
TAPPER: "I get that she's from a middle class family... What about 'here are the 5 things I'm going to do for you?'"
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 24, 2024
CRAZY NANCY: "People like to have a connection to whoever is running for office... That is what she is establishing." pic.twitter.com/2DNKSPlFFd
Although Tapper appeared to try to offer some cover in that he said what he was mentioning was "not a complaint," he did ask Pelosi if she thinks Harris "needs to be mixing it up more?"
"Having a press conference, more town halls, just out and about more--you know, Oprah's the queen obviously, but that's not a tough interview sitting down with Oprah. Oprah's endorsed her. She spoke at the convention," Tapper continued, bringing up that trainwreck of an interview from last week. "Does she need to be doing more of that sort of thing?"
"She will make that decision in her campaign agenda and her plan," Pelosi offered, going on to mention her three Ms of mobilization in order "to get the job done," which include message and money. Given that Americans don't get to see enough of Harris, and how she's constantly flip-flopping, "message" may be a tricky one for her.
"She will be herself. She will take it forward in the way that she has confidence to connect with the American people, show the empathy that she has. But make no mistake. I know her well as you know, she is a person of--I know her personally, and she's a person of goodness, of deep faith, and that's why she cares so much about people, and their well-being," Pelosi continued.
If Harris "has confidence," why does she hide so much, beyond friendly press interviews, which even then aren't so great?
Tapper didn't ask, but rather let Pelosi continue, who noted that "officially, I know her, policy-wise, she has strength. She knows the issues. She knows the strategy. She's eloquent in her presentation." Harris is hardly "eloquent," though, and if she "knows the issues," why does she keep changing her positions only to claim multiple times that "my values haven't changed"?
Tapper did go on to bring up how close the election is, emphasizing "it's neck and neck," adding, "I do wonder, it seems like she's running kind of cautiously and I wonder does she need to take more risks?"
Pelosi then offered that she was in three unnamed states last week, claiming "the enthusiasm out there is great for her," when polls actually show what enthusiasm there was for a new Democratic nominee not Biden has gone down.
As Pelosi then reiterated the three Ms, what she had to say became less and less believable. Again, this is especially the case when it comes to "message," as Pelosi called for Harris to be "non-menacing, uniting, bringing people together." While Harris has claimed she wants to do that, that doesn't quite fit the reality. She's been called out, for instance, for the lack of unity involved in turning down an invitation to next month's Al Smith dinner to benefit Catholic Charities. Trump, however, will attend.
It wasn't merely Pelosi's defense of Harris that was newsworthy, but how she snapped at Tapper daring to ask her about Trump's comments on Harris' "cognitive problems."
"Why would why would you even cover that? This is a person who's not on the level. He is their nominee for president. He is incompetent. Let's not even talk about the silliness of it all and the weirdness of it all on the assault on women that it is. We're not going to talk issues, incompetent," Pelosi demanded of Tapper as he played a clip of Trump.
Even more amusing is how Tapper actually fact-checked Pelosi on her claims about Trump and job creation, pointing out that the economy cratered because of COVID.
Crazy Nancy Pelosi SNAPS at Jake Tapper for reading President Trump's criticisms of Kamala: "Why would you even cover that?!"
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 24, 2024
YIKES. pic.twitter.com/ADN8jiODfB
The rest of the segment focused on Pelosi insisting that Democrats will win in November, including in the House, at which point she made clear that her party will make House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) the speaker.
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