Just as MSNBC couldn’t contain its adoration Thursday for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as she announced she wouldn’t be seeking reelection to House Democratic leadership, CNN was also on Team Pelosi and nowhere near Chris Licht’s model of delivering the news as hosts and other supposed journalists swooned over the “spunky grandmother” as akin to “great performer on the stage or a great athlete” walking away.
And despite her being radically pro-abortion, CNN had the gall to insist she’s dedicated her “career” to helping “children.” That is, the ones she’s allowing to live, of course.
CNN correspondent (and almost CNN+ host) Audie Cornish gushed that “she's already in the National Women's Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls” and thus she herself has been a “history book” that’s “already written.”
Cornish also touted her supposedly devout religious views and thus served as a “counterbalance” to what Republicans point out about Democrats having an aversion to faith:
I mean, her leading the prayer to me is a significant moment. She's always put her faith at the forefront even when her detractors were kind of saying that's not something Democrats would do. I think she's always been a counterbalance to the strongest talking points from the Republican side.
Inside Politics host John King threw more fuel on the fire, conceding “[m]any of you probably disgusted with politics,” but then chastising them to perk up and respect Pelosi because “she loves the institution” and “[t]hat's why the insurrection day was so painful to her.”
Moments before her speech, King even compared her to a top-flight actress or athlete hanging it up:
[T]his is like watching, you know, a great performer on the stage or a great athlete making a big decision about the next chapter. And again, for all the people out there who are disgusted by politics, who don't like politics, there are a lot of great public servants in that building, Democrats and Republicans, who love the institution.
After the speech, King marveled at the devout foot soldiers coming to greet Pelosi as “a remarkable scene” and proof of “the diversity of the Democratic Party right before your eyes.”
King had more eyebrow-raising moments as he argued “the connective tissue in her career is children and China in the sense that she has always pushed programs to help children, whether education programs, health programs” (minus the whole abortion thing) as well as being “a fierce critic of China.”
Cornish stepped in moments later and not content with that. Instead he boasted she’s more than “a spunky grandma,” but someone who “was there for the most consequential moments of the last 15 years legislatively.” Obviously, King seconded her on the “spunky grandmother” line.
Just after the top of the hour, chief political analyst Gloria Borger gushed to CNN Newsroom host Ana Cabrera about how Pelosi was “so remarkable” in going “toe-to-toe with Donald Trump” (click “expand”):
I think what was so remarkable about her was that, when Donald Trump came into office, there was a lot of talk, when new members came in, new Democrats came in, there’s a lot of talk Nancy Pelosi, she's too old, we need a new generation, and it turned out that she met the moment with Donald Trump, that she was the leader who went toe to toe with Donald Trump.
She was, you'll remember, after one of those State of the Unions, I think you're showing one there, remember after a speech, she ripped it up because she was so upset with him. She — in an Oval Office meeting during — there's that picture — in an Oval Office meeting when there was talk of a government shutdown, she took him on when he wanted to build the wall. In — in the Roosevelt Room when they were talking foreign policy, he said she had a meltdown or whatever it was — look at her surrounded by all those men — she stood up and took on Donald Trump. And so Democrats said wait a minute, she is the person to take on Donald Trump, she did drive him crazy.
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To see the relevant transcript from November 17, click “expand.”
CNN’s Inside Politics
November 17, 2022
12:10 p.m. EasternJOHN KING: She earned what she got.
AUDIE CORNISH: I mean, I think it's a measure of her legacy that, I mean, given our ages, we can take for granted that we've only ever really seen a woman in power and kind of holding that gavel. And it's — you know, she's already in the National Women's Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls, so you're talking about the history book. That's already written. So, I think this moment really is very powerful. Whatever it looks like this moment is going to be. I mean, her leading the prayer to me is a significant moment. She's always put her faith at the forefront even when her detractors were kind of saying that's not something Democrats would do. I think she's always been a counterbalance to the strongest talking points from the Republican side.
KING: And there's a lot out in the country you're watching. Many of you probably disgusted with politics. Maybe some of you love the speaker. Maybe some of you are Republicans who don't like the speaker. She loves the institution. That's why the insurrection day was so painful to her. Not just because it was an attack on the government, an attack on democracy, but it was an attack on the shrine of American democracy, a place if you go to visit her up there, she just — she knows every inch of the building and she loves it.
LAURA BARRÓN-LÓPEZ: She really does. She is very much as you said someone who protects the institution.
(....)
12:14 p.m. Eastern
KING: You also can't dispute that she is keeping us in suspense. Her staff said she would come to the floor at approximately 10 after the hour. It's now you 14 approaching 15 after the hour. Watching the formality every day in the House, the one-minute speeches come in. But that's part of it as well. This — this is— you know, this is politics, but this is like watching, you know, a great performer on the stage or a great athlete making a big decision about the next chapter. And again, for all the people out there who are disgusted by politics, who don't like politics, there are a lot of great public servants in that building, Democrats and Republicans, who love the institution. And so, this has to be for her as a human being just a very difficult decision. Do you stay and fight in a new Democratic minority against a Republican majority with whom you disagree on just about everything, fight for a president to whom you are very loyal? Or her husband was just violently attacked in her house in an awful example of the political violence in our country. Do you decide: next chapter?
(....)
12:38 p.m. Eastern
KING: And we're watching on the floor of the House a remarkable scene. The Speaker of the House, still speaker of the house until January, getting embraced by so many of her Democratic colleagues. And is it is a reminder, you're watching, A, the diversity of the Democratic Party right before your eyes here — young and old, black, white, and brown. But Speaker Pelosi, in her speech, Melanie, noted that when she came to Congress in 1987 there were 12 women in the Democratic caucus. There are now more than 90, she said. And she got a good laugh when she said, “and we want more.”
(....)
12:53 p.m. Eastern
KING: She’s been in the House since 1987 representing San Francisco. I was thinking about this last night when we knew this was likely to happen today. We weren’t sure how it was going to turn out, but we knew the speech was likely to happen. And to me, the connective tissue in her career is children and China in the sense that she has always pushed programs to help children, whether education programs, health programs. You heard her talk about as a mother and a grandmother and as a daughter of a politician. But she also in part because of her district but in part because of her work on the Intelligence Committee has been a fierce critic of China for years. Sometimes a lonely voice in the Congress about human rights and about, you know, political reforms, indignities and treatment of people.
(....)
12:54 p.m. Eastern
CORNISH: If I could challenge you the children and the China thing for a moment just because she had her hand in the assault weapons ban, there is no ObamaCare without her. TARP, you know, the financial meltdown. She was there for the most consequential moments of the last 15 years legislatively. And to that end, I kind of don’t — I — I know people like to say, like, she's a spunky grandma who just happened to get there. And, to me, that's, like, the antithesis of her story. Like, her story is a person who was in a political family —
RON BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
CORNISH: — who rose to political power and has held on to it as she wants.
KING: She may be a spunky grandmother but she works hard.
CORNISH: Ex — ex — totally.
KING: She — she has worked hard. I want to get —
CORNISH: That's why people who like her love her.
KING: Right, right. She — she does the work, which is why they respect her. I was going to make a point — your intelligence point — back — I was covering the George W. Bush White House and they had a great deal of respect for her on the Intelligence Committee after 9/11 and in days like that.
(....)
CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera
November 17, 2022
1:03 p.m. EasternANA CABRERA: She was the first and only, at this point, female speaker of the house.
GLORIA BORGER: Yeah.
CABRERA: She held the gavel under four different presidents. What do you see as the impact of this decision to step back from her leadership role?
BORGER: I — I think it's a huge impact because don't forget, we've all been watching her for decades in one role or another. And I think what was so remarkable about her was that, when Donald Trump came into office, there was a lot of talk, when new members came in, new Democrats came in, there’s a lot of talk Nancy Pelosi, she's too old, we need a new generation, and it turned out that she met the moment with Donald Trump, that she was the leader who went toe-to-toe with Donald Trump. She was, you'll remember, after one of those State of the Unions, I think you're showing one there, remember after a speech, she ripped it up because she was so upset with him. She — in an Oval Office meeting during — there's that picture — in an Oval Office meeting when there was talk of a government shutdown, she took him on when he wanted to build the wall. In — in the Roosevelt Room when they were talking foreign policy, he said she had a meltdown or whatever it was — look at her surrounded by all those men — she stood up and took on Donald Trump. And so Democrats said wait a minute, she is the person to take on Donald Trump, she did drive him crazy. And by the way, she was also the leader to bring in those younger members. And there was all kinds of fear, oh my goodness, how is she going to deal with AOC? She did deal with AOC. They are friends. They work together. So, she has served as a remarkable leader during — not only during the Trump years, but over her decades in the leadership having a huge list of accomplishments. And, you know, as — as Barack Obama said, the Affordable Care Act would not have passed were it not for Nancy Pelosi —
CABRERA: And look —
BORGER: — because she knew how to count and get votes. And she will still help do that, I believe.
