House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) was asked by Nicole Wallace in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday whether she would take the initiative to reach out to President Donald Trump.
“I mean, he kind of stopped talking to me when I became Speaker,” Pelosi said in part of her response.
“It was okay when I was Leader, but when I became Speaker, a person of tremendous power, then that didn’t get as interesting to him,” Pelosi said.
“But, in any case, without going into the psychology of what's worth doing as far as the President is concerned, I think it's worth it for him to listen to the scientists,” Pelosi continued.
“I think it's worth it for him to listen to the Intelligence Community,” she said.
“I think it’s worth it for him to listen even to some people in his own Administration who I think want to do the right thing,” Pelosi continued.
“But I bear no responsibility for his lack of listening to other people and I do my best to try to be as bipartisan as possible in my actions as we try to be respective of other people's views as we do these bills. Four bill, all bipartisan, all overwhelming,” she said.
“We have a problem with the President,” Pelosi said. “I don't know why some other Republicans in the country, in the establishment, you know many of them well, are not just speaking out and saying, ‘This is not the Republican Party.’ The Republican Party is a grand old party in our country. I say to my Republican friends, and I do have some, ‘Take back your party. We need a strong Republican Party in our country, that has contributed so much to the success in America.’ And, yet, we have people being silent.”
Here is a transcript of the part of Nancy Pelosi’s interview with Nicole Wallace where she is asked about whether she will reach out to President Trump:
Nicole Wallace: “You have a track record of being able to get the president to sometimes inch your way. You leave a mark. He's so angry at you, I understand, that he's not talking to you.
“But, is it worth picking up the phone and saying what you just said, ‘We need to be able to create a vaccine. We need you, Mr. President. Only you can activate the Defense Production Act.’ We need to put aside whatever baggage he still feels towards you and take this next step. And say what you just said to me, that you’ll save the after-action review, the looking behind us, until a later date.
“Is it worth taking a move like that? I know he carries a lot of the blame for the acrimony in the relationship, but is it worth being the one that picks up the phone and says where can –
Nancy Pelosi: “Let me–excuse me, I’m sorry. Well, let me say worth – what is the word worth. Would it change his behavior?
“Has he ever said anything in the meetings that we’ve had about Dreamers, where he was going to get the job done, and then he changed his mind. What he said about infrastructure, and then he changed his mind. What he said about guns, and then he changed his mind.
“So, again, time is the most finite quantity that we all have. My time, I think, is better spent speaking to the president in a public forum. That's something that he pays attention to. We certainly have our communication with the Administration, in the hopes that we can work in a bipartisan way, as we have done already with four bills to address the coronavirus. Four bills, all bipartisan. I'm very proud of that. Overwhelmingly bipartisan, and we will continue to–continue to do that.
“But it's–his not speaking to me. I mean, he kind of stopped talking to me when I became Speaker. It was okay when I was Leader, but when I became Speaker, a person of tremendous power, then that didn’t get as interesting to him.
“But, in any case, without going into the psychology of what's worth doing as far as the President is concerned, I think it's worth it for him to listen to the scientists. I think it's worth it for him to listen to the Intelligence Community. I think it’s worth it for him to listen even to some people in his own Administration who I think want to do the right thing.
“But I bear no responsibility for his lack of listening to other people and I do do my best to try to be as bipartisan as possible in my actions as we try to be respective of other people's views as we do these bills. Four bill, all bipartisan, all overwhelming.
“We have a problem with the President. I don't know why some other Republicans in the country, in the establishment, you know many of them well, are not just speaking out and saying, ‘This is not the Republican Party.’ The Republican Party is a grand old party in our country. I say to my Republican friends, and I do have some, ‘Take back your party. We need a strong Republican Party in our country, that has contributed so much to the success in America.’ And, yet, we have people being silent.”