Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) second and final stint as Speaker of the House is over, and the establishment media are waxing sentimental. Since she announced her retirement from Democratic leadership, media types have heaped praise and adoration on the Congresswoman: “legendary!” “incredible!” “a towering figure!”
On Thursday, the Washington Post ran a goopy love letter to the Speaker from purple prose enthusiast Eugene Robinson, who went with the subtle headline, “Nancy Pelosi was the most consequential speaker of our time.” Robinson wrote:
Nancy D’Alesandro is still the daughter of a ward-heeling, old-school Baltimore mayor who taught her to practice politics by counting votes and twisting arms. Along with thick skin and a wicked sense of humor, these skills helped make Pelosi by far the most consequential speaker of our time…
When she said she prayed for the presidents she supported and those she opposed, including Trump, she was serious. Nancy Pelosi is a believer. And her belief has made ours a more perfect union.
Incidentally, that same evening ABC’s World News Tonight featured a quote by President Biden with very similar language: that Pelosi was “the most consequential Speaker of the House of Representatives in our history.” Likely just a coincidence, or maybe one of the President’s speechwriters is a Robinson fan.
But it’s still worth noting that back in 2021 Biden covertly enlisted presidential historian Jon Meacham to write a speech for him, only for Meacham to appear on MSNBC later that same day to enthusiastically praise the speech he’d written. We’re not saying that’s what’s going on here, but it’s always fun to remind people that that happened.
Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley offered up some very similar words of praise the following day on CNN’s Inside politics: “I think she’s maybe the most important Speaker of the House in American history.”
But the grand prize for excessive Pelosi praise goes to MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski. On Friday, the Morning Joe co-host gushed: “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it’s sort of hard not to be in awe of what she has accomplished. Unless you’re in a cult.”
Of course, journalists slobbering all over Democratic politicians is fairly unremarkable. But given the Republicans’ rather lackluster performance in the recent midterm elections, now more than ever it’s worth noting just how subservient the media are to Democrats.
