Republicans push back as Democrats seek to blame Pelosi attack on GOP
President Trump at the White House on April 20.
Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
House Democrats on Monday sought to pin the latest round of Republican congressional losses on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whom they called “reckless and unhinged” as she blasted House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for not supporting the GOP’s agenda after the election.
The comments came just hours before new poll numbers showed that the party’s chances of controlling the House of Representatives in 2018 were in jeopardy.
That was in large part because of Pelosi’s criticism of Ryan — and, some Democrats said, “reckless and unhinged.”
“It’s because House Republicans didn’t stand up to Nancy Pelosi” that the party is “losing this Congress,” said Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY).
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) added that “it’s time we had an honest, direct conversation about leadership and its role in a democracy.
“With Paul Ryan refusing to support Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader, the majority leader’s job is to get the American people elected and support the American agenda,” he said.
“Nancy Pelosi’s reckless and unhinged leadership is costing this Congress,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) said in one of the most widely circulated videos on Monday morning that many lawmakers have cited in their tweets. “We demand an emergency meeting of the House Democratic Caucus to discuss the status of the Congress and to demand that Paul Ryan support the American people.”
The comments, which Democrats immediately pointed to as evidence of the need for their party to hold their own caucus meeting, were met with incredulity by some of Ryan’s supporters.
“I’m not sure we would expect this from a Republican caucus member,” Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) told Axios.
Some Democrats also pointed out that the video
