Pelosi on criticism from other Democrats: ‘I just want them to win’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) dismissed Democratic members who have distanced themselves from her this election cycle, explaining that she just wants them to win.

Pelosi brushed off the handful of Democratic lawmakers and candidates who have run ads criticizing her, or who have not committed to supporting her as Democratic leader in the next Congress.

“We’re very diverse in opinion, gender, generation, geography, philosophy, and the rest House Democratic Congress, and some members did not vote for some of the bills, and that’s their record, and that’s what they go out and say,” Pelosi said in an interview on PBS Newshour. “I just want them to win.”

Pelosi has suffered from negative approval ratings during her tenure as speaker. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released this week found that she is still viewed more negatively than her would-be successor if Republicans win back the House, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Fifty percent of U.S. adults view Pelosi negatively, the poll found, versus 17 percent who view Boehner unfavorably — despite a solid months of efforts by President Obama and Democrats to elevate the Cincinnati-area lawmaker.

Pelosi said she didn’t consider members who highlight a different vote from her own as critics of her.

“Well, they took a different vote,” she said. “That’s a disagreement. I don’t call that a criticism.”