In the 2020 election, Republican House candidates unexpectedly gained seats and narrowed Democrats’ majority.
The election left Democrats with a slim four-seat majority.
And according to a forthcoming book by The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, “This Will Not Pass,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) blames progressive Democrats for almost losing the House.
“In a few strictly confidential conversations, she pointed a finger leftward,” an excerpt of the book obtained by Punchbowl News reads.
It continued, “Pelosi told one senior lawmaker that Democrats had alienated Asian and Hispanic immigrants with loose talk of socialism.”
“In some of the same communities, the Italian Catholic speaker said, Democrats had not been careful enough about the way they spoke about abortion among new Americans who were devout people of faith,” it added.
The California Democrat also reportedly “vented about the progressive blockade that had forced her to cancel the infrastructure vote.”
“She told another House Democrat that Pramila Jayapal and Ocasio-Cortez were vying to be the ‘queen bee’ of the left, but that their reward might be serving in the House minority after the next election,” the book says.
Pelosi is not the only Democrat to blame progressive messaging for Republican gains.
Days after the 2020 election, Democrats discussed the election results on a call.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) warned Democrats against using the phrase “defund the police.”
She also argued the party should “not ever use the word ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again.”
In February, Pelosi shot down a push by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) to defund police departments.
“With all due respect in the world for Cori Bush, that’s not the position of the Democratic party,” she told ABC News “This Week.”
According to Martin and Burns’ book, Pelosi was also frustrated that she felt like she had to “beg” to be re-elected speaker last year.
“The experience of begging for support was wearing on her…Pelosi was the only Democrat in the chamber — the only Democrat alive — who had already served as Speaker, who had shown she could do the legislative arithmetic and twist the necessary arms to get things done. And yet [her fellow Democrats] were making her grovel. ‘At this point in my life, I don’t need this,’ she vented,” the book reports.
It added, “Her victory in holding onto the speakership, ‘seemed like a joyless one.’ Pelosi expressed “her frustration with unusual vehemence that day, discussing her political future in a way she rarely did around colleagues. ‘You couldn’t pay me a billion dollars to run for Speaker again,’ Pelosi said.”
