NBC's Andrea Mitchell, in an exclusive Wednesday interview with Nancy Pelosi aired on her MSNBC show, hit the Democratic House Minority Leader from the left on the debt agreement as she pronounced it "a bad deal" because "there's no taxes in it" and whined: "Was the President a bad negotiator? Did he give away too much?"
For her part, Pelosi agreed that it was a "bad deal" but rationalized that at least it was "a done deal" and "it's time for us to move on."
(video after the jump)
Throughout the interview Mitchell played up liberal talking points as she pressed Pelosi to criticize Obama, even asking "Did the Tea Party win?" because, as Mitchell put it "the President and your hands are really tied in terms of new spending. It's going to all be on the downside in terms of cutting and perhaps raising taxes."
The following is the relevant exchange with Pelosi as it was aired on the August 3 edition of Andrea Mitchell Reports:
ANDREA MITCHELL: The American people want to see jobs. They want to see the economy improve. But a lot of Democrats, your members, the leader of the Congressional Black Caucus feel that this deal is a bad deal and it will lead to a slowing of the economy. Congressman [Emanuel] Cleaver called it a "Satan sandwich." You added on that it's "a Satan sandwich with a side of Satan fries." It's a bad deal.
REP. NANCY PELOSI: It's a bad deal, but it's a done deal, as my colleague Steve Israel says. It's a bad deal but it's a done deal and it's time for us to move on. It's the basis on which we are going to proceed and we have to get on with it. We've got to go to the table, do the best we can, in a balanced bipartisan way to create jobs, reduce the deficit and takes us into the future. Just talking about how we got here and, and our complaints about this bill - don't get me started. But that's not -
MITCHELL: Well let me get you started a little bit. Was the President a bad negotiator? Did he give away too much?
PELOSI: This is not - I don't think so.
MITCHELL: Why not?
PELOSI: I think the President was great. But again, what is the point of talking about what is finished? On every, on anything that happens around here anyone one of us could have done it better. Right? We could have written it better. We could have, whatever it is. But the fact is the president wanted a balanced bipartisan agreement...
MITCHELL: But he didn't get a balance. There's no taxes in it.
PELOSI: That's right. And nobody knows that better than I or perhaps some do. But I fully appreciate that. But the - again, this is about how we go to the next step. Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. We get sort of like it's a cottage industry here in Washington, D.C. that we have to talk about what we did, why we did it. It's horrible in the, in, in realtime. And now we're gonna continue to talk about it.
MITCHELL: But it was a turning point many people feel. I've covered Congress many years and have never seen it quite as poisonous.
...
MITCHELL: Did the Tea Party win? Because they have redefined the debate and now the President and your hands are really tied in terms of new spending. It's going to all be on the downside in terms of cutting and perhaps raising taxes?
