Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appeared to criticize MSNBC anchor Katy Tur during a discussion Monday about job losses during the Trump administration by suggesting she was an “apologist” for the former president for mentioning the COVID-19 pandemic—a charge which Tur promptly denied.
On Katy Tur Reports, the former House Speaker began by stating that Trump hasn’t shown that he “ever valued or did anything to support a democracy.”
“I have sympathy and respect for everybody who votes. I’m just glad people vote. I know some of them will always reject those of us who might look different to them in leadership or the rest, and that’s that,” Pelosi then said.
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“But there are those who have real legitimate concerns about immigration, globalization, innovation, and what that means for their job and their family’s future, and we have to address those concerns, and Joe Biden is doing that. [He] created 9 million jobs in his term in office,” Pelosi went on.
It wasn’t immediately clear where Pelosi obtained that number, but according to FactCheck.org 14 million jobs were added from when Biden took office through last December.
Pelosi then claimed that Trump “has the worst record job loss of any president.” Moments later, Tur interjected: “There was a global pandemic.”
Pelosi, who appeared surprised by the comment, took a moment before continuing on. “He had the worst record of any president. We’ve had other concerns in our country. If you want to be an apologist for Donald Trump, that may be your role, but it ain’t mine.”
Tur rejected that depiction.
“I don’t think that anybody can accuse me of that,” she said.
“No, but let me just say, as Speaker of the House, we put forth the $3 trillion bill—$3 trillion of investment in communities and the rest,” Pelosi said, apparently referring to the infrastructure law passed in late 2021. “And that stimulates the economy.”
Trump oversaw a net loss of 2.9 million jobs, with sudden and substantial drops occurring in March and April 2020 as the effects of COVID-19 set in. Trump’s first two years in office saw a streak of monthly job gains, but that ended in February 2019.
Earlier in the interview, Tur asked Pelosi about former Trump attorney general Bill Barr's suggestion on CNN Friday that Trump would often mention executing his political rivals.
Pelosi seemed less interested in Barr’s account than what Trump himself has said publicly.
“What do we care what Bill Barr says? What we care about is what the candidate for president of the United States says, and he says it with great bravado. He even says if you beat up the press, I will pay for your legal fees,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi may have been referring to how Trump promised he would cover the legal costs of his supporters if they roughed up counter-protesters, as opposed to members of the press. Trump has called the media “the enemy of the people.”
Pelosi then dismissed Trump’s argument for absolute immunity from prosecution for acts taken while president—a topic the Supreme Court is weighing.
“Those who care about the Constitution and who have studied all of this have said: How can you say that a president can commit an illegal act and not be accountable for it because he’s no longer president? A person could do whatever he wants to do and resign, and then he’s free, off the hook,” she said.
“If this court doesn’t rule in the right way, we have real concerns about our democracy and the three branches of government.”
