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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is dismissing calls from her own caucus about bringing ‘change’ to the party’s geriatric leadership team.
The speaker, 82, who is seeking reelection, told MSNBC‘s Andrea Mitchell, 75, that President Joe Biden has done a ‘spectacular job’ and the main thing was to win.
She got asked by the longtime NBC correspondent about Rep. Elisa Slotkin’s call for ‘new blood.’
Pelosi shrugged off the comment, and cast it as a political move by the Michigan Democrat.
‘I say, just win, baby. Just win. If that’s what you have to say to win, fine. We will not, in any way, do anything but totally support mobilization-wise, message-wise, money-wise, for those people to win their races,’ she said.
‘Just win, baby.’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, brushed off calls for new leadership in her party, even as she said there was a need for ‘generational change’
Pelosi is seeking to fight historical trends to maintain her party’s narrow House majority, and is on a fundraising swing that will take her to Michigan Wednesday.
‘Yes, we need generational change, of course we do. But, in some cases, there’s no substitute for experience,’ Pelosi told Mitchell.
She also heaped praise on President Biden, who has previously saluted Pelosi’s role in carrying his agenda through the House.
‘And I think that what we had been through with the legislation under the leadership of President Biden, who has done a spectacular job. He has had a better two years than most presidents that you can name, certainly in the recent generations. He has, again, with the rescue package, with the, most recently, Inflation Reduction package, with the Chips and Science Act, with the PACT Act for our veterans, for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. He has had a remarkable record,’ she said.
Pelosi said President Biden, 79, has done a ‘spectacular job’
House Majority Whip James C. Clyburn, who is a key Biden ally, is 82
Waiting in the wings: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Pelosi’s longtime partner and occasional leadership rival, is 83
Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is 71. He was elected to the House in 1980 at the age of 29, and served there with Pelosi
It was the kind of endorsement of Biden’s legislative achievements the White House would like more of, with a spate of Democrats sometimes distancing themselves from the White House on immigration and the economy amid Biden’s low approval ratings.
‘If they are after us – look, just win. That’s all I’m saying to people,’ Pelosi said, brushing off the internal criticism, amid speculation she might step down should Democrats lose the House.
‘I just want you to win your races, because nothing less is at stake than our democracy. Nothing less is at stake than our planet. Nothing less is at stake than our freedoms, a woman’s right to choose,’ she said.
The Slotkin comment that prompted the question came as she faces a fight to win a third term in a redrawn district.
‘We need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party,’ said Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin
‘I have been very vocal, including with my own leadership in the House, that we need a new generation. We need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party, in the House, the Senate and the White House. I think that the country has been saying that,’ she said.
Slotkin, 46, a former CIA analyst and Defense Department official, was commenting on a remarkably stable leadership team that has scored political wins while freezing out younger members.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Pelosi’s longtime partner and occasional leadership rival, is 83, while House Majority Whip James C. Clyburn, who is a key Biden ally, is 82.
Over in the Senate, Majority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is 71, while Mitch McConnell, the Republican hoping to replace him, is 80.
Pelosi wasn’t the only one coming in for criticism. Podcaster and former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann blasted Mitchell for asking a question about why Biden didn’t ‘push harder’ to try to codify Roe v. Wade. Pelosi told her there was no chance of getting 10 Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster.
‘And I apologize to the viewers for Andrea. She needs to retire,’ he tweeted.
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