Nancy Pelosi has admitted she hasn't spoken to Joe Biden, a crucial intervention in July by Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race following a disastrously weak debate performance against her. Donald Trump.
The former Speaker of the House told the Guardian's Jonathan Freedland on the Politics Weekly America podcast that while he continues to consider the US president a good friend and longtime political ally, he felt a cold political reckoning was necessary after evidence of Biden's mental illness. Sharpness.
“Not since then, no,” she said when asked if she had spoken to Biden. “But I pray about it.”
She added: “I have great respect for him. I think he is one of the best presidents of our country,” he said. “I think his legacy should be preserved. I don't see the election going the way it was going. My call: 'Let's study well.' He will decide what it is. And he made that decision. But I think he has some embarrassment because we've been friends for decades.
“Elections are results,” he added. “You decide to win. A while ago I decided that Donald Trump would never step foot in the White House again as President of the United States or in any other capacity … So when you make a decision, you have to make every decision in favor of victory … and the most important decision of all is the candidate.
Pelosi acknowledged that some in Biden's campaign may not be forgiving of her role in limiting Biden's legacy to a term, but a Trump victory would reflect horribly on her legacy.
Known as a uniquely influential House speaker, especially during the Biden administration, which passed key legislation on infrastructure and climate, Pelosi is widely seen as a veteran Democrat, with polls showing Biden beating Trump to reconsider his bid for re-election. badly.
After Biden stepped down, Pelosi encouraged the party to endorse Kamala Harris — and scored another victory when the vice president named former congressman Tim Walls as his running mate.
Pelosi has been a longtime thorn in Trump's side, frequently antagonizing him on social media, and in 2020 she publicly tore into his State of the Union address on the floor of the House of Representatives. Disbeliefs”.
Explaining her unique ability to hold together a weak coalition of centrist and progressive Democrats, Pelosi explained that she thought “leadership is about respect, building consensus,” while mocking Trump's ability to do either way, especially his hateful rhetoric toward immigrants, which she called “poison in the blood of this country.” described.
“I never say his name,” she says of Trump, instead describing “what his name is.”
“I think so [Trump is] A grotesque word… a word you don't like crossing your lips. I am not. I'm afraid, you know, when I grew up Catholic, like now, if you say a bad word, you can burn in hell if you don't have a chance to confess. So I don't want to take any chances.
“It's like that, swearing.”
In her new book, The Art of Power, Pelosi describes her disappointment in being the first female speaker of the House and the failure of Hillary Clinton's campaign for president in 2016, but remains hopeful that Harris will make history that Clinton could not. .
“I always thought America was more ready for a woman president than a woman speaker of the House,” she told the Guardian. “The US Congress is not a glass ceiling there. It is a marble roof. And it was very difficult to get up there. But the general public, I think, is doing better… In Congress, they'll say to me: “Understand this, for a long time, there's a pecking order here for people who have been waiting for openings to happen and their turn. ” I said: “This is interesting. We have been waiting for more than 200 years.
However, she praised Harris for not running as “the first woman or the first woman of color.” He operates on his strengths, knowledge of policy and strategy and presentation and others. And I think it's a different race than Hillary Clinton.
Pelosi said that more women support Harris and more men support Trump by a significant margin: “The gender gap exists because there is such a gap in terms of policies that affect women.”
“A woman's right to choose is a personal issue. It is an economic issue, but it is also a democratic issue. It's an issue of freedom, the freedom to manage your own life.
“What is democracy? It is a free and fair election. It was a peaceful transfer of power. It is an independent judiciary and individual liberties enshrined in our Constitution's Bill of Rights. And he hits women especially hard, and women hard. Did you see it the other day? Kamala Harris is said to be developmentally disabled. He is a candidate for the US presidency.
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“He has no respect for the office? Does he have no decency in how to communicate?
Pelosi spoke of her fears of political violence after misinformation spread by Trump led to the withdrawal of rescue workers after the US disaster relief agency FEMA said it was poaching rescue workers from hurricane-ravaged areas in North Carolina. Women workers.
“It's coming from the top,” he said of Trump's role in fueling political violence. “He takes pride in doing it. Don't take it from me, take it from him.”
After the armed attacker attacked husband Paul Pelosi after he entered their home with intent to harm him, many Republicans jeered — including Trump's son Donald Jr., who suggested he dress up as Paul Pelosi for Halloween.
“When that happened, it was very sad for my children and grandchildren [some Republicans] He thought it was a riot – they laughed and joked … His son, all the people joked about it, right away. We don't even know if he is going to live or die.
Asked if she agreed with recent comments by Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump's nominees, Pelosi said Trump is “a fascist to the core”:
“Yes, I do. I do. I know this is interesting because Kamala Harris says she has sued people like Trump. I know such men. no, I know him,” insisted Trump.
“There is a picture of me leaving the Roosevelt Room at a Cabinet meeting. I pointed at him and said, I'm leaving this meeting because, Mr. President, all roads lead to Putin. [Milley’s] The term 'fascist to the core' speaks volumes about the actions he took. Belittling the press, fake news – this is the tactic of fascist governments.
He added that the main reason is that the Democrats will at least win in 2024. Electoral College for Peaceful Transfer of Power.”
“No one could have seen a rebellion sparked by the President of the United States. But a foreigner who lost this election can try it once again.
Later in the interview, Pelosi mentioned Trump by name, then caught herself. “I said his name. Oh oh oh I hope I don't burn in hell.
