Moments after MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell read a statement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accusing President Trump of endangering U.S. troops in Afghanistan by publicly postponing the Democratic leader’s trip to the war-torn country, Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake insisted that Pelosi actually “held back quite a lot” when it came to trashing Trump.
Noting that Haake had just talked to Pelosi, Mitchell observed that “obviously there’s a lot of anger here over the cancellation of the trip, as well as outing a confidential trip.” Haake responded: “Anger over the cancellation, and frankly, angry over the degree to which the President’s actions here put people in danger...”
Despite that, the reporter claimed that the House Speaker’s supposed restraint was “striking”:
She has not let the dogs of war go, if you will, against this President yet. She has held back members of her caucus who have talked about impeaching him. She has held back quite a lot so far. And you just wonder how long that can continue as the shutdown stalemate drags on.
Just seconds earlier, Mitchell finished reading this nasty statement from Pelosi warning that Trump had endangered the lives of U.S. military members:
In the middle of the night, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service provided an updated threat assessment detailing that the President announcing the sensitive travel had significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip....In light of the grave threats caused by the President’s action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to further endanger our troops and security personnel, or travelers on the flights.
If that’s what “held back” looks like, just imagine what the top Democrat will accuse the President of when she starts really speaking her mind.
Here is a transcript of the January 18 exchange on Andrea Mitchell Reports:
12:21 PM ET
ANDREA MITCHELL: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning saying that President Trump put her secret trip to Afghanistan in danger after he abruptly canceled it just about a half hour before she was supposed to take off. In a statement, Pelosi says, quote, “In the middle of the night, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service provided an updated threat assessment detailing that the President announcing the sensitive travel had significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip. This morning, we learned that the administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well. In light of the grave threats caused by the President’s action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to further endanger our troops and security personnel, or travelers on the flights.”
Just moments ago, MSNBC’s Garrett Haake caught up with Pelosi on Capitol Hill and asked if the President’s move was a deliberate counterstrike to her delaying the State of the Union.
REP. NANCY PELOSI [D-CA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE]: I would hope not. I don’t think the President would be that petty, do you?
MITCHELL: Garrett Haake joins me now from Capitol Hill. And former Democratic Congressman Steve Israel, the former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as well, from New York. Garrett, first to you. You just talked to the Speaker, very politely put, “I don’t think he would be that petty,” sarcastically or ironically put. But obviously there’s a lot of anger here over the cancellation of the trip, as well as outing a confidential trip.
GARRETT HAAKE: Anger over the cancellation, and frankly, angry over the degree to which the President’s actions here put people in danger, both by outing the trip in the first place and then, as Pelosi says she believes, the White House leaking the details of the commercial travel plans that they used as a fallback puts the delegation at risk, puts the folks who they’d be meeting with on the ground at risk.
And I believe you call that shade, what we just heard from Nancy Pelosi. But it is striking, the tone that she has tried to continue to take with the president in public, there turning the question back on me rhetorically, continuing to stick to the line about rescheduling the State of the Union purely as a security measure. She has not let the dogs of war go, if you will, against this President yet. She has held back members of her caucus who have talked about impeaching him. She has held back quite a lot so far. And you just wonder how long that can continue as the shutdown stalemate drags on.
(...)
