That NYT Interview Pelosi Gave Sure Was Wild

Over the weekend, Matt covered how an interview that Pelosi gave with The New York Times signaled that she blamed Biden for not dropping out sooner and not having an open primary in time to replace him. He even endorsed Harris sooner than he was supposed to. There's another detailed write-up from the outlet and Pelosi, one that was published on Saturday in which Pelosi communicated quite the delusional take.

"The Interview: Nancy Pelosi Insists the Election Was Not a Rebuke of the Democrats," claims the headline of an interactive piece featuring Pelosi turning to creepily look at readers. 

"While Democratic voters and politicians wring their hands over what happened, and what's next, Pelosi seemed unwilling or unable to concede that her party had been handed a crushing electoral rebuke and rejected the criticism of the party's direction," the piece mentions. As long as her career in politics may be for the 84-year-old, that's not exactly a winning take for the party, especially not in the long-term.

The interviewer began by asking how Pelosi was feeling. "Well, on the presidential level, I feel sad for the American people," she offered in part. For all that sadness, though, it's worth reminding that Trump not only won the Electoral College, but the popular vote, something a Republican hasn't achieved since the 2004 election. Republicans also won back control of the Senate on Tuesday night, and, since the interview was published, kept control of the House. 

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Even when it became increasingly likely that Republicans would keep control of the chamber, Pelosi still claimed that "we are on the verge of perhaps winning the House and making Hakeem Jeffries the speaker of the House." Adding, "We're optimistic that we can win."

Pelosi and the interviewer further discussed the state of the races, Pelosi's thoughts, and the hope she was holding onto that Democrats might gain control of the chamber. 

"Well, it was not a good night for the Democrats, but as I say, I don’t accept right now, and we won’t even know by the time this goes to print, what the outcome is of the House races," Pelosi offered. "But understand this: The big assault that was made," she claimed, with "this big red map across America." She also went with the line of how "we don’t agonize over what happened. We organize about what comes next." It's a line we've heard before, but with all that Pelosi's been involved in to force Biden out of the race, only for Democrats to lose, it might seem a bit hollow.

The interview also got to the part that's received plenty of attention before, with Pelosi expressing a desire for a more open primary, during which she still tried to sing the praises of Harris, just as she had done earlier in the interview. She also tellingly wouldn't even speak to whether or not Biden should have even run for a second term. 

"We live with what happened. And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different," Pelosi tellingly revealed. "But that’s not, we’re not here to agonize. We’re here, again, to organize on how we go forward. We’re going to have fresh, new talent--perhaps Kamala among them, that’s up to her--to go forward for the next election," she said in part, again pointing to the claims about how they're "not here to agonize," though that seems to be what they'll be doing, especially with the House also under Republican control. 

What followed during the interview, when speaking about the Democratic Party being "rejected," was Pelosi engaging in downright denial of reality, even though control of the House had yet to be called.

When the interviewer offered, "You can see that the country embraced Trump or you can see that they rejected the Democratic Party more broadly and the Biden-Harris administration," Pelosi claimed, "I don't think whatever you said, with all due respect, applies to the House Democrats." As the interviewer also pointed out that "the brand of the Democratic Party overall seems to have been hurt this election cycle," Pelosi especially wasn't having it, as she claimed, "So, your branding that we all got rejected, we didn't. We're still in the fight right now, and it's going to be a very close call. I don't see it as an outright rejection of the Democratic Party." She also refused to believe that her party "abandoned the working class," which brings us to a sense of disarray given the complaints from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who caucuses with the Democrats. 

It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them.

While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change.

And they’re right. pic.twitter.com/lM2gSJmQFL

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 6, 2024

The interviewer also referenced retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), who used to be a Democrat, though Pelosi still insisted that her party is that of the working class, insisting, "Our purpose is in the Democratic Party, is for America's working families."

Just as DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison very publicly rebuked Sanders over X, Pelosi did the same over Sanders, in a way perhaps inadvertently revealing how her party has had it out for Sanders, given that he failed to emerge victorious in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.

"Bernie Sanders has not won," she claimed, though he did win his Senate race last Tuesday by over 31 percentage. points. While Pelosi touted how much better Harris did in Vermont, it wasn't by much, as she won by just under 32 percentage points. 

"Let me, with all due respect, and I have a great deal of respect for him, for what he stands for, but I don't respect him saying that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working-class families. That's where we are," Pelosi insisted, as she went on to sing the praises of Biden, just as Harrison had done. 

This is straight up BS… Biden was the most-pro worker President of my life time- saved Union pensions, created millions of good paying jobs and even marched in a picket line and some of MVP’s plans would have fundamentally transformed the quality of life and closed the racial… https://t.co/6s4iR5Xtdq

— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) November 7, 2024

If Pelosi not being able to acknowledge the reality of the 2024 elections isn't enough for you, she also reverted to her old habits of going after Republican voters, especially in response to the question of "why did voters who earned less than $100,000 go for Trump in such large numbers?"

According to NBC exit polls, voters making under $30,000 voted for Harris over Trump by 50-46 percent, but voters making $30,000-$49,999 voted for Trump by 53-45 percent over Harris, and those making $50,000-$99,999 voted for Trump over Harris by 51-46 percent. 

"Well, there are cultural issues involved in elections as well. Guns, God and gays--that’s the way they say it. Guns, that’s an issue; gays, that’s an issue, and now they’re making the trans issue such an important issue in their priorities; and in certain communities, what they call God, what we call a woman’s right to choose," Pelosi responded with another line she's used before. She actually claims to be supposedly "very Catholic," despite how she eagerly pushes for abortion and taxpayer funding for it, a move which has led to the Archbishop of San Francisco denying her Eucharist. She even went on to reference her Catholic faith when speaking about the connection she and Manchin have when answering how "the culture war" is only "part of it." It's also worth reminding that her party has been negatively impacted by "the trans issue," with even The New York Times covering how it helped Trump win.