(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a move reflective of her new book The Art of Power, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the knives out to target another high-profile Democrat: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
In a 35-minute interview with Politico, Pelosi hinted Thursday that Hochul’s unpopularity was the reason behind Democrats losing their House majority in 2022.
That year Democrats lost five seats in New York, which helped Republicans secure a majority in the House for the first time since 2016, when Trump was elected president and the GOP controlled both chambers of Congress.
When asked about those losses, Pelosi said they were “related to the gubernatorial race,” pointing to Hochul’s narrow victory over former Rep. Lee Zeldin.
Zeldin mounted a fierce challenge, losing in the closest New York gubernatorial race since 1994, when George Pataki defeated Mario Cuomo.
When asked if she has spoken to Hochul about avoiding a loss in 2024, Pelosi replied that she had spoken to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., “as recently as this morning.”
She added, “No, I’ve spoken to the future speaker Hakeem Jeffries about it. We’re optimistic about our races. We will mobilize to win on the ground. We’ll message progressive, bold, but non-menacing, unifying to the country.”
This isn’t the first time Pelosi has criticized Hochul. She reportedly joked with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. — one of the Republicans who flipped a district in 2022 — that he and other New York Republicans should thank Hochul for their seats.
According to Politico, this exchange occurred after President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, which Hochul attended as a guest.
In response to the jab, Hochul’s spokesperson, Jen Goodman, told Politico that the governor “is committed to taking back the House majority and making Hakeem Jeffries Speaker.”
In a 2023 interview with The New York Times, Pelosi blamed Hochul for the 2022 losses, citing a failure to address concerns about rampant crime.
“That is an issue that had to be dealt with early on, not 10 days before the election,” Pelosi said. “The governor didn’t realize soon enough where the trouble was.”
In her Politico interview, Pelosi warned that New York Republicans should be preparing for defeat in the 2024 election.
In New York, Republicans flipped two seats and retained two Republican-held seats. The New York freshmen are Reps. George Santos (now a former lawmaker), Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler and Nick Lalota.
