House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 80, celebrated on Saturday afternoon after legacy media outlets, including Fox News and the Associated ...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 80, celebrated on Saturday afternoon after legacy media outlets, including Fox News and the Associated Press, called the 2020 presidential race for Democratic nominee Joe Biden. But in her celebratory statement, Pelosi seemed to suggest that Democrats had a “mandate for action” despite performing below expectations in House races.
“Today marks the dawning of a new day of hope for America,” declared Pelosi. “A record-shattering 75 million Americans cast their ballots to elect Joe Biden President of the United States — a historic victory that has handed Democrats a mandate for action.”
“President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris won with a strong margin, and they will have a strong Democratic House Majority by their side. Working together, we have the opportunity to deliver extraordinary progress For The People,” she said.
According to New York Times election tracker, Democrats have thus far failed to win a single toss-up seat or seat that was expected to go red prior in pre-election day projections. Furthermore, Democratic congressional candidates have lost several races that were expected to favor them.
The Democratic Party’s poor down-ballot performance has caused infighting within the congressional caucus, and private disagreements have started spilling out into the open.
Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who live in solidly blue districts, have made public statements rebuking some of the concerns expressed by more moderate members of the party. For example, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) took issue with “defunding the police” and “socialism” sloganeering, which she told the caucus on Thursday made her re-election bid difficult.
Ocasio-Cortez, although she did not explicitly name Spanberger, has since tweeted: “When it comes to ‘Defund’ & ‘Socialism’ attacks, people need to realize these are racial resentment attacks. You’re not gonna make that go away. You can make it less effective. How do you make it less effective? Invest in year-round deep canvassing. Data shows that this kind of work helps blunt the force of racial resentment at the polls. If you’re always running away from convos about race, then the only ppl owning it are GOP. You’ll lose.”
Tlaib was even more blunt toward Congressman Conor Lamb (D-PA), who reportedly expressed agreement with Spanberger and said the Democratic Party pays “the price” for “unprofessional and unrealistic comments.”
“It’s unrealistic and unprofessional to be okay with people dying because air pollution is causing cancer in their communities. It’s unrealistic and unprofessional to look away while Black folks get gunned down in the streets by police,” declared Tlaib.
Despite all of this, Pelosi told Democratic colleagues on Thursday that she plans to run for Speaker of the House again.
Compounding the Democratic Party’s congressional turmoil, down-ballot Democrats failed to recapture any state legislatures, and actually lost control of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, reports NHPR.
Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives have managed to flip three congressional seats, but Republicans have managed to flip even more of them, resulting in a net gain of five seats for Republicans. On the other hand, Democrats are currently three seats short of a majority in the House. However, there are 25 races yet to be called, according to The New York Times elections tracker.
Republican currently lead in about 16 of those races, Democrats lead in nine of the races, and the Times reports that the remaining race will go to a runoff. Even if Republican candidates win in every race they are currently leading, they would have to win a half-dozen other races to gain a majority in the House, including at least four expected to ultimately go to the Democratic candidate.
As media outlets continue to project results in congressional races, the Trump campaign has pushed back against projections of a winner in the presidential election. In a statement to The Daily Wire on Saturday afternoon, Jenna Ellis, senior legal advisor and attorney for the Trump campaign, called the projections premature.
“Media coordinated efforts are attempting to simply declare Joe Biden the president and ignore the rule of law. There is no official winner until every legal vote is counted accurately, the states certify results, and all legal challenges are resolved,” said Ellis.
Biden has responded to the projections as follows: “I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted. Proving once again that Democracy beats deep in the heart of America. With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America, and there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
As The Daily Wire previously reported, the Trump campaign has initiated a series of legal battles in different key states, but those challenges will likely take time to resolve, and it’s unclear whether they will have any impact on the final outcome of the race.
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