House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a favorite target of the right. But one unlikely Republican has shown her some respect: President Trump.
During Trump’s surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Thursday afternoon, he again turned on the charm, offering Pelosi congratulations on her “very, very great achievement” of becoming House speaker again.
“Hopefully we’re going to work together and get lots of things done, like infrastructure,” he said. “I think it will be a little bit different than people think.”
It’s not as if Pelosi has been easy on Trump. At a private meeting after their now-infamous Oval Office meeting last month, she allegedly commented that the border wall must be a “manhood thing” for Trump. Yet even that insult did not invoke a Twitter tirade from the president. He has slammed Democrats generally for not giving him funding for the wall, but he hasn’t gone after Pelosi personally.
Pelosi wields tremendous power over Trump. As speaker, she has say over investigations and subpoenas and would ultimately be the one to bring impeachment charges to the floor if it came to that. She even said Thursday the president’s not immune from indictment. Maybe Trump is playing nice because he knows that.
Or maybe he genuinely likes her. (He did tell her, way back in 2011, that she was the “best.”)
If Trump respects power above all else, as it seems he does, it’s not surprising he’d respect Pelosi.
While we’re not privy to Pelosi’s skills behind the scenes, the way she navigated her march back to being speaker is an indication of her talents.
Pelosi told Elle magazine in a recent interview that she views the vitriol thrown her way by Republicans and some Democrats not as hatred but as respect.
“They wouldn’t come after me if I were not effective. I consider myself a master legislator. Republicans fear me for that, but also because I am a successful fundraiser, enabling our candidates to have the resources they need to win,” she said.
The persistent anti-Pelosi campaign devised by the Republicans over the years had been successful in adversely affecting public perception of her. Not only did she become the personification of everything Republicans were supposed to fear, but she became a third rail for some within her own party. Over time, Democratic candidates distanced themselves from her. Asking a candidate whether they would support her for speaker became an ultimate “gotcha” question.
But Pelosi worked diligently and strategically after the Democrats won the House majority in the November midterms to shore up support from the varying factions that could have opposed her.
To counter a challenge from Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), a former Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman, Pelosi promoted a new diversity-hiring office and offered Fudge a job overseeing a resurrected subcommittee on elections. She appealed to progressives by creating a committee focused on climate change.
Pelosi’s greatest opposition has come from her right flank, from members who said they wanted fresh blood in the leadership role and are from swing districts where backing Pelosi is a liability. She assuaged many of those members by agreeing to implement term limits on party leaders in the House.
After all the drama surrounding her bid to become speaker, she ultimately lost just 15 Democratic votes, mostly from freshman lawmakers who promised on the campaign trail to oppose her.
Pelosi knows the art of the deal.