Hakeem Jeffries defends Pelosi over claims she undercut his leadership

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday rebuffed critics who claim former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been undercutting his leadership of congressional Democrats.Pelosi (D-Calif.) — who is widely believed to have played a critical role in President Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 race and has been outspoken about went wrong for the Democrats on Nov.

5 — has been accused of indirectly dissing the New York congressman.A senior Democrat griped to Axios, “She needs to take a seat,” while a member of the Congressional Black Caucus claimed, “I don’t think she is being respectful of him.”But Jeffries countered on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “I think Speaker Emerita Pelosi has been incredibly respectful of the entire leadership team.“It’s an honor to stand on the shoulders of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an incredibly consequential public servant in the history of America, and to continue to work closely with Speaker Pelosi and, of course, Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer,” the Democratic rep said.Pelosi, 84, led House Democrats from 2003 until early 2023, when she passed the baton to Jeffries, 54.Despite her absence from a formal leadership position, Pelosi clearly continues to maintain pronounced influence among House Democrats and within the party broadly.

Shortly after the election, Pelosi caused a stir by telling the New York Times that Biden, 81 should have exited the race sooner and bemoaned the lack of a competitive primary.Jeffries, asked if Biden dropped out too late, refused to address the controversy head-on.“I think that President Biden will go down in history as one of the most consequential presidents of all time.

And I was thankful for all of the work that we were able to do together,” Jeffries said.“It was a selfless decision to pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.I think she ran with it and did the best job that she could under incredibly challenging circumstances in a little over 100 days.

She came clo...