Pelosi at ceremony marking number of US coronavirus deaths: ‘It’s almost incomprehensible’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday called the U.S. coronavirus death toll “almost incomprehensible” while speaking at an art installation paying tribute to the dead.

“It’s almost incomprehensible that here in America this would happen,” Pelosi said Monday at the ceremony, where celebrity chef José Andrés and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) also made remarks at the DC Armory Parade Ground in front of RFK Stadium in the nation’s capital.

“But thank you for giving us this optic, this visual manifestation of it, not only the lives [lost] — how horrible all these are, but the families, the families, the communities, that have lost maybe 1,000 health care providers,” she added. “Health care providers, they risk their lives to save lives and now here they are, here they are in this display.”

Pelosi praised Andrés, Bowser and artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg as exemplifying the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity in her remarks.

“Suzanne Firstenberg and her husband, Doug, and their children have faith. They believe that the arts will send a message to make the change that is necessary. They believe that this impression will inspire people, will make them sad, but also make them strong to say, ‘What can we do to stop this?’” Pelosi said.

“It’s almost incomprehensible that here in America, this would happen. But thank you for giving us this optic, this visual, manifestation of it.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at memorial consisting of flags representing lives lost in the pandemic. https://t.co/9vOLfIC5SE pic.twitter.com/0RDzBS2OMe

— ABC News (@ABC) November 2, 2020

LOOK: Pelosi, along with @MayorBowser and @chefjoseandres, plant flags at a Washington, D.C. memorial to mark more than 230,000 Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/sznHnlAO6e

— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) November 2, 2020

The display uses flags to represent the number of people in the U.S. who have died from the virus. The figure stood at more than 231,000 as of Monday.

Pelosi and other Democrats have criticized President Trump and Republicans for their response to and handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic leaders and the Trump administration have been at odds for months over the size and scope of a new coronavirus relief package. The stalled negotiations mean legislation for government aid is unlikely until the lame-duck session at the earliest, though possibly not until late January.