House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pushed back after being pressed on why President Joe Biden did not do more for abortion rights “until now.”
During Tuesday’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” the host asked Pelosi, “Why did the president wait until now to make this major push for what he says will be a post-election call for a fast track on abortion rights nationwide?”
Mitchell suggested Biden could have done more last Fall amid a leaked draft opinion showing the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.
“The president has been a very strong supporter of a woman’s right to choose. In your preview, you said, why is he waiting until after the election instead of doing it now? We don’t have 60 votes in the Senate,” Pelosi replied.
Mitchell then asked, “You don’t think he could have pushed harder in the Senate?”
Pelosi pushed back, “You think we would have gotten 10 Republican votes? You think we would have gotten 10 Republican votes? Oh, come on.”
She continued, “With all due respect, the fact is we need to get two more Democratic votes to push back the filibuster and, therefore, be able with 51 votes to enshrine Roe v. Wade into the law.”
Watch Pelosi’s comments below:
"We don't have 60 votes in the Senate … you think we would've gotten 10 Republicans votes? Oh, come on" — here's Nancy Pelosi schooling Andrea Mitchell after Mitchell suggests Biden pushing harder could've moved Congress to codify Roe pic.twitter.com/QeO5No05vy
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2022
During a Democratic National Committee event on Tuesday, Biden vowed if Democrats hold onto control of the House in the midterm elections he would make abortion a priority.
“The court got Roe right nearly 50 years ago and I believe the Congress should codify Roe, once and for all,” Biden said.
The president explained if Americans elect more Democrats, “here’s the promise I make to you and the American people: The first bill I will send to the Congress will be to codify Roe v. Wade. And when Congress passes it, I’ll sign it in January, 50 years after Roe was first decided the law of the land.”
A Kaiser Family Foundation survey published on Oct. 12 found 50% of registered voters are motivated to vote by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, NPR noted Vice President Kamala Harris has held more than 20 events revolving around reproductive rights since the court’s decision.
