“With all due respect, you really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pelosi told Blitzer, acknowledging that her Democratic chairs — who also came out against the GOP offer — stood behind her decision. “So do a service to the issue and have some level of respect for the people who have worked on these issues, written the bill to begin with.”
Blitzer then asked Pelosi about the mounting pressure within her caucus to accept a deal, citing comments from Democrats such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) or one-time presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who called on her to accept a deal.
But Pelosi dismissed the calls to simply accept the $1.8 trillion, as she had on a private caucus call earlier on Tuesday. House Democrats had initially passed a $3.4 trillion bill, and party leaders have refused to accept less than $2 trillion — a price tag that Senate Republicans have already rejected.
“I can’t get over it because Andrew Yang is lovely. Ro is lovely. But they are not negotiating this situation. They have no idea of the particulars. They have no idea of what the language is here,” Pelosi said, growing increasingly agitated.
Blitzer then asked Pelosi why she wouldn’t call up Trump to seek out a better compromise.
“I don’t speak to the president,” Pelosi said.
“Why not call him? And say let’s work out a deal. There are so many Americans in desperate need. Let’s make a deal,” Blitzer responded.
“What makes me amused if it weren’t so sad is how you all think that you know more about the suffering of the American people than those of us who are elected by them to represent them at that table,” Pelosi said.
Matthew Choi contributed to this report.