Last week was not a stellar one for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. With the Congressional wins of Michelle Steel, Young Kim, and Burgess Owens, three more House seats have flipped from Blue to Red. This is a total of 12 House seats ripped from the Democrat majority, and there are still 13 House races yet to be called.
GOP has flipped 12 seats in the House:
CA39 Young Kim
CA48 Michelle Steel
FL27 Maria Elvira Salazar
FL26 Carlos Gimenez
IA01 Ashley Hinson
MI03 Peter Meijer
MN07 Michelle Fischbach
NY11 Nicole Malliotakis
NM02 Yvette Herrell
OK05 Stephanie Bice
SC01 Nancy Mace
UT04 Burgess Owens— Kyle Morris (@RealKyleMorris) November 14, 2020
As former President Barack Obama used to delight in saying, “Elections have consequences.” But the consequences probably don’t feel so good when the shoe is on the Democrat’s foot.
At Pelosi’s Friday press conference, she claimed that her focus during the lame-duck session of Congress will be on passing a COVID-19 relief package, especially with surging case rates and death toll numbers. She described this as “an emergency of the highest magnitude,” and a “red alert” situation.
No more than a few hours later, she got hoisted by her own petard when a photo was tweeted of a lavish dining room being prepared in the Capitol to welcome incoming House members. Pelosi claimed that it was safe, that there was advanced ventilation for the meal, and that the Capitol physician had given his approval.
House Dem and GOP leaders are holding respective dinners for new members.
.@SpeakerPelosi told me it’s safe. “It’s very spaced,” she said and there is enhanced ventilation and the Capitol physician signed off. pic.twitter.com/ZXjf72lnrP
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) November 13, 2020
My colleague Sister Toldjah explained:
“Pelosi’s black-tie/glittery dress party was especially egregious when you consider 1) she’s still stalling the COVID relief bill as millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, and 2) the email she’d sent out to supporters in her Congressional district not long before the event was scheduled to take place:
Pelosi managed to piss off both sides of the aisle with this one.
As she convenes an indoor dinner for new House members, Nancy Pelosi just sent an email to her constituents that says, "We must still work to crush the virus with the … mask wearing and social distancing that are essential to preventing tens of thousands of needless deaths." pic.twitter.com/OFlnNftVbP
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) November 13, 2020
When you’ve lost Chelsea Clinton…
Please cancel these in-person dinners, @SpeakerPelosi & @kevinomccarthy to keep everyone safe from #covid19 – yourselves, your new members, servers, the Capitol police and all of their families and contacts. And, to show public health leadership. https://t.co/HC1AOYYBgp
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) November 13, 2020
“To show public health leadership”? When has Pelosi ever done this? In September, she got her hair blown out for an MSNBC appearance when salons in her hometown of San Francisco were supposed to be closed. Then she was caught on camera traipsing through the salon without a mask! Pelosi promptly claimed she was set up, and left the salon owner to deal with the fallout and death threats.
But, leadership…
Pelosi ended up canceling the dinner and, reflective of the “health leader” she is, she let her Deputy Chief of Staff present the news.
Our office strictly follows the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician, including for this dinner. To be a further model for the nation, this event has been modified to allow Members-elect to pick up their meals to go in a socially-distanced manner. https://t.co/s2pSyUOCbm
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) November 13, 2020
Now, the New York Post reports that Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are urging House members to forgo offers to jump ship to the Biden-Harris administration:
“Nancy is telling House members, ‘Now is not the time to leave,’” a Democratic Party official who’s been briefed by Democratic congressional reps said.”
Hoyer is also asking the Biden transition team to slow their roll. It’s like vultures picking through the bones of a carcass.
“But another House insider said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is urging Democratic congressional reps to stay put, and told the Biden transition team not to poach its members because of the party’s slim majority following the Nov. 3 elections.”
With 13 more races not yet called, any additional open House seats would have to be filled by special elections, which are open to Democrats and Republicans. Dependent upon the timing of such elections, it might not bode well for the supposed Democrat mandate.
From the comments on the New York Post’s tweet, Pelosi is receiving lots of compassion (NOT) for her predicament.
Blowing off 1.9 trillion dollars not looking so smart now Nancy 🤣 she left the people struggling to play politics, karma is a bigger bitch than @SpeakerPelosi
— President Elect commonsensical (@filterfreeme2) November 16, 2020
What effect did holding onto stimulus dollars have?
— dOMe_inate (@LiveFree_n_Loud) November 16, 2020
Elections have consequences. Pelosi’s gamble on the election results backfired, and I don’t believe she expected it to be this massive.
Keep the popcorn hot: I doubt this week will get any better for Madam Speaker.
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