House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) made clear on Sunday that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is not “undermining” his leadership of House Democrats even as she has been pointing fingers after a disastrous election for Democrats.
Speaking to NBC News’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, Jeffries was asked about a report that cited two House Democrats saying Pelosi has gotten out of line with her public criticism of what went wrong for the Democratic Party this election cycle.
“One lawmaker went so far as to say, ‘She needs to take a seat.’ Another [lawmaker] said they don’t think Pelosi is being ‘respectful’ of you. Do you agree?” Welker asked Jeffries, quoting from the report.
“I think Speaker Emerita Pelosi has been incredibly respectful of the entire leadership team. It’s an honor to stand on the shoulders of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an incredibly consequential public servant in the history of America,” Jeffries responded.
He was then asked if he thought Pelosi was specifically undermining his leadership in the House with her public criticism of the party, which has included lamenting the fact that President Joe Biden did not drop out of the presidential race sooner.
Jeffries flatly stated, “No,” leading to amusement from Welker, who said, “OK, that was quick.”
Pelosi’s criticism following the election included jabs at both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, arguing that if Biden had dropped out sooner, “there may have been other candidates in the race.”
“The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said during a New York Times interview. “Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen.”
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Jeffries’s comments this weekend come as the Democratic Party attempts to chart a new course after the Nov. 5 election, which saw Republicans secure the trifecta — the presidency, House, and Senate. Democrats will be looking for a new chair of the Democratic National Committee, as current Chairman Jaime Harrison is not expected to seek a second term.
Commenting on that search process this weekend, “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called for the party to move away from “Obama-era insiders” after longtime Democratic strategist David Axelrod floated Rahm Emanuel, the current U.S. ambassador to Japan, as an option.