As House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continues to count votes for her bid to regain her former title of Speaker of the House when Democrats occupy a majority in that chamber next year, President Donald Trump said repeatedly Saturday that he “would help” Pelosi by urging some House Republicans to vote for her if necessary.
He not-to-subtly used the offer as an opportunity to talk about “presidential harassment.”
I can get Nancy Pelosi as many votes as she wants in order for her to be Speaker of the House. She deserves this victory, she has earned it – but there are those in her party who are trying to take it away. She will win! @TomReedCongress
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 17, 2018
Trump told reporters Saturday morning:
“I would help Nancy Pelosi if she needs some votes. She may need some votes. I will perform a wonderful service for her. I like her, can you believe it? I like Nancy Pelosi. I mean, she’s tough and she’s smart, but she deserves to be speaker, and now they’re playing games with her, just like they’ll be playing with me. It’s called presidential harassment…
“In a way, her own party is harassing her. There’s nobody else who can be speaker. That doesn’t mean for 100 years. But certainly they should start off with Nancy Pelosi as speaker. And I already have a lot of votes. If she needs any votes, if she asks me, I will give her the votes to put her over the top.
“I saw Tom Reed [R-NY] as an example [of a Republican who might vote for Pelosi to be speaker]. He’s a fine man, a congressman. I would call him a moderate. I’m not saying I’d get any from the super conservative side, but maybe I even get them from there. But I don’t imagine she’d need too many. But whatever number of votes she needs, if its 50 or 10 or 2 or 1, she’s got them from me, automatic. So tell her opposition, they’re wasting their time.”