House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Friday that she is now willing to agree to a smaller coronavirus relief package because there is “a new president,” Fox News reported.
President Donald Trump and Republicans have long argued that what motivated Pelosi and the Democrats not to agree to another coronavirus relief package was the 2020 election: Pelosi thought that blocking a package would hurt Trump’s reelection chances, so she did everything in her power to do so, even if it meant hurting the American people.
Now, Pelosi has basically admitted that this was indeed the case.
“Not a mistake”
Pelosi made the remarks Friday on CNN when congressional correspondent Manu Raju asked why the House speaker is suddenly willing to move forward with a smaller coronavirus relief package.
Pelosi said, “Finally, we have a new dynamic, a new president in a little more than a month committed to crushing the virus … and more than one successful vaccine to make all the difference in the world.” She also said the proposal “has simplicity, it’s what we had in our bills, it’s for a shorter period of time, but that’s OK now because we have a new president.”
Raju also asked whether not accepting a smaller coronavirus relief package earlier was a mistake.
Pelosi indignantly replied that it wasn’t. “I’m going to tell you something,” she said. “Don’t characterize what we did before as a mistake, as a preface to your question, if you want an answer. That was not a mistake.”
She continued, “It was a decision, and it has taken us to a place where we can do the right thing without other, shall we say, considerations in the legislation that we don’t want.”
Playing politics
Perhaps The Federalist’s David Marcus said it best: “I don’t throw this word around much, but if what Nancy Pelosi has done playing politics with the well being of American families isn’t evil, I don’t know what is.”
So now, after months of stalled negotiations and Americans suffering, the Democrats this week put their support behind a $908 billion relief package that was introduced to Congress by a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
The bill would give aid to small businesses, as well as relief to local and state governments. It would also extend unemployment benefits and help pay for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and vaccine distribution. It does not, however, include another round of stimulus checks.
It is unclear whether Congress will vote on the bill before it goes on break for Christmas.
The post Pelosi admits to playing politics by stalling coronavirus relief first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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