Pelosi, Well, Manhandles Trump - By Eleanor Clift
She said more than once that she is respectful of the office Trump holds, “perhaps more respectful than he is.”
Eleanor Clift
01.26.19 12:14 AM ET
As Speaker Pelosi settled in for lunch Friday with a dozen or so columnists, news began to break of the impending deal to open the government. Eyeing her favorite dark chocolates in a bowl next to the sandwiches and salads, she told how her husband likes hard chocolate and keeps it in the freezer. “I like to put it in the palm of my hand to soften it up,” she said, an apt metaphor I thought for how she had just handled President Trump over the five-week government shutdown.
She makes it sound easy, following a few simple rules. One, no State of the Union speech while the government is partially closed. Two, no negotiating about policy until the government is open. Then she stood her ground. No complicated back and forth. A straightforward “no” to every demand for a wall.
The deal reached between Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell opens the government for three weeks with no wall money. An online CNN story assessing the politics called it a clear win for Pelosi with the hashtag “Queen Pelosi.” Asked if she liked that, Pelosi responded with an emphatic “No, I don’t want anybody thinking in terms like a monarchy.”
Not many politicians have gone up against Trump and emerged victorious, with their dignity intact. How did she do it? “First you start with a feather,” she said, “then you move to a sledgehammer.” In her telling, when she first told the president he couldn’t give his SOTU while the government was closed, he said he was coming. She rebuffed him a second time, and he said he was coming anyway. Then she said “please don’t,” telling him the House that she controls would not vote on a “concurrent resolution” to formally invite him.
Bingo! “One step at a time, and he understood, and when he understood, he understood, and sometimes it’s about timing,” she said. Asked if she thought Trump and his people realized her power over something as traditional as the SOTU, she said, rather dismissively, “I don’t spend a lot of time sussing out what they know.”
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https://www.thedailybeast.com/pelosi-well-manhandles-trump-with-two-tools-a-feather-and-a-sledgehammer?ref=home
= new reply since forum marked as read
Just to see what his reaction is.
