Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she wants a “strong Republican Party” alongside a strong Democratic Party, but that “this is not it.”
Pelosi lamented the lengthy speaker election last month as an example of the dysfunction within the Republican conference while speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday.
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“I think the country needs a strong Republican Party. We need a strong Democratic Party, but this is not it. It isn’t our judgment about what it should be. It’s their judgment, but it’s a missed opportunity for America.”— @SpeakerPelosi on the current state of the GOP pic.twitter.com/eqUYYfClX9
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 8, 2023
“I think the country needs a strong Republican Party. We need a strong Democratic Party, but this is not it. It isn’t our judgment about what it should be. It’s their judgment, but it’s a missed opportunity for America,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi also discussed how she told House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to “just get it done” regarding the speaker vote, which went for 15 rounds. She expressed displeasure that the lengthy speaker vote caused a delay to the business of the House of Representatives.
“I thought it was inept that they were not able to do it. 15 votes,” Pelosi said. “We did not have a functioning Congress for all those days.”
She also said the speaker vote saga is indicative of further problems for the GOP conference in the House.
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The California Democrat stepped down from House party leadership late last year after the Democrats lost the majority in the chamber.
Pelosi’s comments come the morning after Biden’s State of the Union address, where he delivered his first address before a Republican-led House.
