Democrat: Pelosi ‘ceded the moral high ground’ on sexual harassment

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) tore into House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for her comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this week, saying Pelosi “ceded the moral high ground,” by praising Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) amid sexual misconduct allegations. 

“I think that her comments on Sunday set women back and — quite frankly, our party back — decades,” Rice told reporters Wednesday, according to Politico. 

“I think that we ceded the moral high ground on Sunday when our leader said on ‘Meet the Press’ that John Conyers was an icon and we don’t even know who these women are, when she was fully aware that the woman in question was bound by a nondisclosure agreement,” Rice continued. {mosads}

“I think we had an opportunity to stake that moral high ground when you have a president who is supporting a man for Senate who — all credible allegations that have not been refuted — showed him to be a predator of teenage girls,” she said.

Rice is one of three Democratic House members who has called for Conyers’s resignation over the allegations, along with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) She was also a vocal opponent of Pelosi’s reelection as the House Democratic leader. 

Pelosi has faced backlash following an interview on “Meet the Press” Sunday in which she defended Conyers, calling him an “icon in our country.”

When asked during the interview if she believes the allegations made against her Democratic colleague, Pelosi dodged, saying that is for the House Ethics Committee “to review” as part of its investigation into the allegations against him. 

The California lawmaker also praised Conyers, saying he has done a “great deal” of work to “protect women” with his help on the Violence Against Women Act.

Pelosi has supported legislation by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), herself a victim of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, that overhauls House policies on the reporting of sexual assault complaints.