Nancy Pelosi told an ABC reporter “not to worry about it” after the former House speaker was questioned about whether Joe Biden should remain in the race for the White House.
The veteran Democrat, who at 84 is older than Biden, drew on her Italian heritage to keep her interlocutor at bay after Biden’s chaotic performance in the first presidential debate.
After repeated attempts to dodge questions, Pelosi let her fingers do the talking, demanding omertà from the reporter.
“Am I speaking to you in English?” he asked, stopping short and curling his fingers. “I’m not going to make any statements about any of that right now in the hallway.”
As House speaker, Pelosi was vital to securing Biden’s legislative ambitions and he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom two months ago.
The longtime Biden ally is seen as one of the few in the party with the authority to persuade the president that his time is up.
“It’s up to the president to decide whether he’s going to run or not,” she told MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Wednesday. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running out.”
But the president had already insisted he had decided to run, prompting speculation that Pelosi wanted him to think again, knowing that any attempt to force him out would split the party.
Her cryptic comments sent reporters running after her, and ABC’s Rachel Scott spotted her walking down a hallway at the Capitol.
“Did you convey to President Biden what you said this morning?” the journalist asked.
“I’m not going to have any conversations with you or anybody else about what I’ve said to the president, with all due respect,” Pelosi said. “I never do that, so it’s nothing new.”
“I understand, Madam President,” Scott replied. “Do you think you’ve waited this long to make this decision?”
“I’m not going to make any comments today in the hallway about the fate of our nation, okay?” Pelosi replied.
“Are you worried about whether you can win in November?” Scott asked.
“I think he can win in November,” Pelosi replied with a cold smile.
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch on Wednesday became the first Democratic senator to call on President Joe Biden to abandon his reelection campaign.
Welch said the American public cannot forget President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance in the presidential debate late last month.
“Do you think he should run for re-election?” Scott pressed as she tried to get a direct answer.
Perhaps she was grateful that Pelosi’s only stilettos were on her feet when she saw the former House speaker suddenly stop, stare at her and ask if she understood English.
The exchange sparked a stir on social media, with some accusing the veteran Democrat of patronizing the black journalist.
“I know Nancy Pelosi didn’t look a black woman in the face and ask, ‘Am I speaking English to you?'” tweeted black Republican congressional candidate Laverne Spicer.
‘This is one of the most racist things he’s ever done and there’s a whole list of them!
‘Girl, you don’t have to talk to a sister like that!’
Others felt more sympathy for the elderly Democrat who was unable to escape her pursuer in a seemingly endless corridor.
“Maybe it was because she had to say something THREE TIMES and you still acted like you didn’t understand what she said?” another added.
“She would have said the same thing to a white person who asked her the same question,” tweeted Mary Witkowski. “Nancy Pelosi is a pig to any conservative.”
The tense exchange came as Pat Ryan of New York became the eighth House member to call for Biden to drop out of the race.
“I would be doing a grave disservice if I said he was the best candidate to serve this fall,” the congressman said.
Pelosi said she had urged her colleagues to keep their concerns to themselves until the president had finished organizing this week’s NATO conference.
Pelosi’s importance to Biden’s decision was underscored by a series of comments from Donald Trump on his social media channel Truth Social on Wednesday night.
And late Wednesday, Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to call on the President to abandon his re-election campaign.
But Pelosi told MSNBC she is urging her colleagues to keep their concerns to themselves until the president has finished organizing this week’s NATO conference.
“I’ve told everyone to wait,” he insisted.
‘Whatever you’re thinking, tell someone privately, but you don’t have to put it on the table until we see how we do this week.’
And Pelosi’s potential importance to the outcome has not escaped the attention of Donald Trump, who questioned her abilities on his Truth Social network on Wednesday night.
“Crazy Nancy Pelosi is a cognitive disaster,” he said. “Now she’s turned on Crooked Joe.”
“She’s really saying that he doesn’t have what it takes.
‘Really? I’d love to debate her about what radical left Democrats have done to ruin our country.
“It wouldn’t last five minutes.”