It is a funny thing.
On the rare occasion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is treated to an uncomfortable or unfair line of questioning from a member of the press, she almost always snaps, punching back with quips and insults that are far disproportionate to the perceived offense.
In a way, she is like President Trump but with less power and fewer political victories.
On Tuesday, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer lobbied the speaker to accept and pass the White House’s most recent multitrillion-dollar stimulus proposal. Blitzer kept after it hard, which Pelosi did not appreciate. Not one bit.
Can you “explain why you don’t want to accept the president’s latest stimulus offer?” the CNN host asked.
“I hope you’ll ask the same question of the Republicans why they don’t want to meet the needs of the American people,” the speaker shot back.
Later, after Blitzer again asked why she won’t accept the stimulus proposal, Pelosi said, “I don’t know if you’re always an apologist for the Republicans.”
The cable host spent the remainder of their nearly 20-minute-long conversation asking again and again why Pelosi cannot simply accept the White House’s deal, even when members of her own caucuses seem eager to pass it. Pelosi did not respond kindly.
“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.
“With all due respect,” she added later, “you really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The speaker continued, imploring Blitzer to “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.”
“I wish you would respect the knowledge that goes into getting — meeting the needs of the American people,” she said, “but, again, you’ve … been defending the administration all this time with no knowledge of the difference between our two bills, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to say that to you in person.”
Later, at the end of the interview, Blitzer tried at least a half dozen times to sign off and end the conversation with the last word. At each turn, Pelosi interjected with an insult or sarcastic comment, trying herself to have the last word, which is amusing considering it is Blitzer’s program and he gets final say no matter how many times a guest interrupts him.
The entire thing is pretty wild. And no one is any smarter for it. Modern-day news television!