House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) called President Donald Trump a “master of diversion” on Wednesday, accusing the President of using GOP acceptance speech discussions to sideline the suffering of millions of Americans who continue to struggle and lose their lives amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Once again he is diverting attention from the fact that people are dying in our country,” Pelosi said, referring to Trump’s idea to deliver his GOP nomination acceptance speech at the White House. “Children are hungry. Families are fearing eviction. Workers are concerned about getting money into their pockets.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) accused President Trump on Wednesday of once again "diverting attention" from those suffering amid the coronavirus pandemic by raising discussions about whether he can deliver an acceptance speech for the GOP nomination on White House grounds. pic.twitter.com/dugWgW6GwH
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 5, 2020
Pelosi said that “whether it’s legally wrong or ethically out of the question” the suggestion that political events such as an acceptance speech for the GOP presidential nomination on White House grounds should be rejected outright. “He can’t do that,” she added.
“For the President of the United States to degrade, once again, the White House as he has done, over and over again, by saying he’s going to completely politicize it is something that should be rejected right out of hand,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi’s comments follow a report from the Washington Post that the President was considering using the White House’s South Lawn to deliver his convention speech. Trump confirmed during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he “probably” would give his speech accepting the Republican nomination from White House property later this month.
The issue became a topic of controversy early Wednesday amid questions about the Hatch Act, which provides notable exemptions to the President and Vice President in federal laws that bar the use of government property by federal employees for certain forms of political activity at work.
