House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to say Sunday that President Donald Trump had been right to ban travel from China in late January.
Pelosi spoke with CNN anchor Jake Tapper about that and several other issues on “State of the Union.”(RELATED: ‘Just Calm Down’: Nancy Pelosi Fires Back After Jake Tapper Suggests She Made ‘A Tactical Mistake’)
WATCH:
Tapper pointed out that former Vice President Joe Biden, who had initially referred to Trump’s travel ban as a “reactionary” move that would make the situation worse, had pivoted on the issue.
“One point of clarification that I was wondering, Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign told me earlier this month that he supported President Trump’s partial travel restrictions on January 31 blocking foreign nationals from China from coming to the United States,” Tapper explained before he turned the question to Pelosi. “Do you agree it was the right move by President Trump at the time?”
“Let’s go into the future, okay?” Pelosi demurred briefly, then turned back to offer a parting shot at Trump. “Actually tens of thousands of people were still allowed in from China. So it wasn’t as it is described as this great moment. There were Americans coming back, green card holders coming back. But there were tens of thousands. If you’re going to shut the door because you have an evaluation of an epidemic, then shut the door.”
“But let’s go into the future,” Pelosi said again, saying that what was really important was to discuss how to address the concerns facing Americans now.
“What the American people want is for us to have a plan to go forward. And our plan to go forward addresses their concerns,” she said.
