Trump attacks Pelosi as ‘political hack’ over late-show appearance

by Jesse Byrnes - 04/18/20 6:40 AM ET

President Trump went after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a tweet late Friday, attacking the Democratic leader as “an incompetent political hack” and calling on her to return to Washington as lawmakers wrestle over another coronavirus relief bill.

Trump shared a tweet criticizing Pelosi over her appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” earlier this week. In the clip, Pelosi shows off a stockpile of ice cream packed in her kitchen freezer in San Francisco, noting, “This is something you can get through the mail.”

“An incompetent political hack! Come back to Washington & take care of our great American workers,” Trump tweeted.

An incompetent political hack! Come back to Washington & take care of our great American workers. https://t.co/FZ9mH92j0S

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2020

A Pelosi spokesman fired back on Saturday, calling on Trump to focus on the pandemic.

“Instead of trying to distract and divide, the President should focus on the public health crisis in front of him. As the Speaker wrote to her colleagues last week ‘The truth is a weak person, a poor leader, takes no responsibility. A weak person blames others,’” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told The Hill.

The president’s tweet echoed criticism he leveled at the Democratic leader earlier Friday during a White House coronavirus briefing, when he accused Pelosi of “not doing her job” and called on her to “come back” to Washington to hammer out a deal.

The president has blamed Democrats for a stalemate over a deal for new funds aimed at helping small businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

“I think the Democrats are going to do it. Look, Nancy Pelosi, she’s away on vacation or something and she should come back,” Trump said at the briefing Friday. “She should come back and get this done. I don’t know why she’s not coming back. The fact is, she’s not doing her job and there’s nothing unusual about that for her.”

Republicans have offered to provide an additional $250 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program that was set up under the $2.2 trillion relief package passed by Congress and signed by Trump last month. Democrats, however, have pushed to reform the program and provide another $250 billion for hospitals and state and local governments as well as an increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help low-income families.

The small-business loan program ran out of funds on Thursday without a deal for additional money.

“In the implementation, there is need for more money. We subscribe to that. We want to have more money for small business. We believe in that. The entrepreneurial spirit of America is so important,” Pelosi said during an interview on MSNBC on Friday night. “But it is also important to have funds for those on the front lines, the health care workers, the police and fire, EMS folks, and all those who really need help as they try to save lives.”

“So we’re hoping that we can come to an agreement,” she added.

Trump maintained during the briefing Friday evening that the small-business loan program was running “flawlessly,” despite reports of glitches and other issues affecting the rollout earlier this month, and he indicated he believed $250 billion would be enough for the program.

“It’s going to get us to a point that’s going to be rather beautiful,” Trump told reporters. “It could be that they want more, but maybe at a certain point we’re going to stop.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that he would support additional funding for hospitals in a package aimed at helping small businesses, saying he discussed the potential pairing with Trump at the White House on Thursday.

During her appearance on “The Late Late Show” on Tuesday night, Pelosi noted that she has been “in conversation all day with my members, with scientists, with people of faith, with elected officials” to discuss a path forward amid the coronavirus crisis.

She also called for additional testing that public health officials say will be essential to safely reopen the country while avoiding a resurgence of virus cases.

Multiple GOP lawmakers have invoked Pelosi’s appearance on the program to call on Democrats to pass a clean funding bill.

We all have found our ways to keep our spirits up during these trying times. Mine just happens to fill up my freezer. #LateLateShow pic.twitter.com/dqA32d5lU1

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 14, 2020

Apparently the Speaker of the House thinks it’s more important to showcase her freezer full of gourmet ice cream than to fund paychecks for millions of Americans who are at risk of losing their jobs. pic.twitter.com/ukI1LMXqe2

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 16, 2020

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) posted a video offering to provide the Democratic leader ice cream from his own freezer.

“I will give you all the ice cream I have in here, Madam Speaker, if you will fund small business and stop holding it hostage,” Rubio stated.

So I hear Speaker Pelosi really likes ice cream?

Here is what I am willing to do if she will stop holding aid for #SmallBusiness hostage pic.twitter.com/nqrcgTSbWd

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 17, 2020