Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) scolded young socialist candidates for running against incumbents, asserting this is not a good year for it when Democrats are trying to gain the majority in the upper and lower chambers.
Speaking at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival, Pelosi, 86, spoke of the perception that she has been against socialist candidates, who are said to be causing fractures in the party.
“Well, let us again define our terms. I was not for candidates coming in and running against our incumbents because we needed to win the House. In other words, weighing the equities,” she said, explaining that it is about winning.
“No – I wasn’t happy about people saying, ‘Let’s spend a whole lot of money challenging Democrats.’ You want to do that? Do that, but don’t think that that’s something that is good for this year,” she said. “Do it a year when we have the luxury of having the majority, but not when we’re trying to–you can’t gain by losing.”
“Can’t lose your members. The idea is that there will be those who will be out there to just take down the incumbents when this is our year to honor the Constitution of the United States. I’m not for that. You run any time you want. Do whatever you want to do. But don’t expect that to be welcome when we’ve got to stay completely focused on saving the Constitution,” Pelosi said.
Ironically, Pelosi also asserted that Republicans “just do what they’re told” right after telling incoming socialists in her party to fall in line and choose House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as their Speaker.
“We are not a monolith. We represent different constituencies around the country. … So I can’t go in there and say everybody should be like me because I’m from San Francisco, and this is the right thing to do. You have to listen to other people’s views, and hopefully across the aisle,” Pelosi said, asserting, however, that all Democrats will be voting for Hakeem Jeffries for speaker come next January.
“As I said before, you build the consensus. You recognize the importance of every voice, and everybody doesn’t think alike. That’s not what a democracy is about. We could just go home and let one person speak for all of us, if that’s the attitude that people want the party to have,” she said, bizarrely claiming that the Republican Party has a “different attitude” and “just do what they’re told.”
Pelosi formally announced her retirement in November, meaning she will not be serving in the House at the start of the new term in January 2027.
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