House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for saying Democrats in the House have a “mandate” after being called out by her colleagues in a caucus phone call for losing a number of seats they were hoping to win on election night.
McCarthy mentioned Pelosi’s comments during a Thursday press conference, listing what he believes Pelosi meant by saying Democrats have a mandate. Democrats in the House reportedly voiced their concerns about the future of the party with Pelosi in a caucus call after the Nov. 3 elections, as Democrats did not expand their majority but instead lost several seats. Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger was reportedly the most vocal, causing Pelosi to fire back saying Democrats have a “mandate.”
McCarthy responded to her comments, saying: “I heard the speaker call it a mandate. It was a mandate against socialism,” McCarthy said. “It was a mandate against defunding the police. It was a mandate against wasting a majority that the Democrats have done for the last Congress.”
WATCH:
.@GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy: “I heard the Speaker call it a mandate. It was a mandate against socialism. It was a mandate against defunding the police.” pic.twitter.com/53hcWoAbWI
— The Hill (@thehill) November 12, 2020
“We lost races we shouldn’t have lost. Defund police almost cost me my race because of an attack ad. Don’t say socialism ever again,” Spanberger reportedly said. Adding that the party needs “to get back to basics.” Spanberger then reportedly said that “if we run this race again we will get fucking torn apart again in 2022.”
Pelosi reportedly disagreed with Spanberger’s comments, saying she is happy they kept a majority in the House. “We have a mandate!” Pelosi reportedly said before getting off the phone call. (RELATED: ‘We Have A Mandate!’: Pelosi Reportedly Hammers Distraught, Beleaguered House Dems)
Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin said Tuesday morning that there are some serious problems with her party’s messaging and branding.
“The brand has been weak for a while. And therefore, every two years, you can just superimpose whatever hit is the most popular thing and you’re gonna convince some people that that’s what all Democrats are about,” Slotkin said in an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle when asked about the future of the Democratic Party.
So, while I don’t love some of the slogans, I don’t love a lot of what I’m hearing from some of my colleagues who are further left of me, I think that we have a bigger strategic problem and we need to own that as Democrats,” she continued.