The overwhelming win of President-elect Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris probably marks the beginning of the end of the power of senior politicians like California’s former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Democratic politics.
Pelosi, the woman “who for decades reigned as kingmaker in her party, facing the prospect of having her status as a power player in the party unceremoniously stripped away on the back of” the loss of Harris.
The startling drop comes only months after she played a significant role in attempts to disqualify President Joe Biden.
The 84-year-old Pelosi was seen getting into a furious argument with fellow Democratic insider and former DNC chief Donna Brazile at Harris’ concession address at Howard University in November.
Pelosi is at the forefront of the charges as the blame game heats up following the vice president’s unexpected loss.
“The influences of a [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer or a Pelosi or a movie star or an Obama deciding to anoint somebody – those guys are gone,” business investor and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary said last week.
“In four years, they won’t have that kind of influence,” he added in a thinly veiled reference to actor George Clooney, who famously and publicly called on Biden to end his reelection following a disastrous debate with Trump.
Some Republicans are directly attributing the significant Democratic losses—from the top of the ticket to the Senate flipping red and the House still in contention—specifically to Pelosi.
“You’ve got to blame Nancy Pelosi,” former GOP House Speaker and fellow Californian Kevin McCarthy said during a Fox News interview earlier this month.
Pelosi has been widely recognized as a key figure in Biden’s July decision to withdraw from the race just months before Election Day.
McCarthy also stated that the effort constituted an attack on the democratic process, as primary voters across the country cast their ballots for Biden, only to see Harris emerge as their nominee.
“Joe Biden never should have ran for office. I knew it when I sat with him. There was something wrong with him,” McCarthy said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fed into the irrational fear-mongering many in her Democratic Party have been using to denounce President-elect Donald Trump’s massive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, making irrational claims about entering a period of “fascism” and “authoritarianism.”
Meanwhile, ‘AOC’ is being sabotaged by one of the leaders of her own Party.
Former Speaker of the House and Democrat California Rep. Nancy Pelosi is said to be working behind the scenes to stop the New York representative from becoming the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Axios reported.
“The fight comes as several septuagenarian committee ranking members are facing desperate battles against – or yielding to – younger challengers,” the report said.
“Many members are concerned about [the] precedent these races are setting,” a senior House Democrat said to Axios.
“Pelosi has been approaching colleagues urging them to back Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez, according to two House Democrats with direct knowledge of her outreach,” the report said.
House Oversight Committee Chairman and Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) supports the New York Democrat’s bid to be the ranking member.
“I’m a big AOC fan,” he said in an interview on Thursday when he appeared on CNN. “Obviously, I don’t agree with very much of her policy, but I think she’s a good person; I think she’s very well-spoken.
“I did not have a good relationship with Jaime Raskin. I don’t think that’s any secret,” he told host Pamela Brown.
“I tell the press when they ask about the race for ranking member, the Democrats have nowhere to go but up after having Jamie Raskin for the last four years, so, I think AOC would be great, Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) would be great. … But I certainly look forward to working with the next ranking member,” he said.
“If it’s AOC, I think we’ll have a good working relationship. We’ll obviously have a lot of differences on policy, but I think she’s a good, well-spoken person for the Democrats to serve in that position,” he added.