Following suit from Thursday night, the flagship Friday morning broadcast network news shows were bursting with adulation for the “end of an era” as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she wouldn’t seek reelection to House Democratic leadership. On ABC and NBC, they called her a “hero” and “icon” who “went toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful men in the world” and whose “reign...was legendary.”
ABC’s Good Morning America co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos said his piece, lamenting her absence at the top “marks a seismic shift” before giving way to congressional correspondent Rachel Scott boasting of Pelosi as “the most powerful woman in Washington for decades.”
“A measured, at times defiant leader, but now after political loss and a brutal attack on her family, Pelosi says it's time to pass the torch. It was a moment that brought Capitol Hill to a standstill. Members of Congress filling the House chamber to witness the end of an era,” Scott swooned.
Scott further gushed that Pelosi has been “a towering figure in American politics” who “often went head-to-head with Donald Trump.”
On NBC’s Today, congressional correspondent (and former CNNer) Ryan Nobles couldn’t hide his feelings. He told co-host Hoda Kot that “Pelosi's reign over the Democratic caucus was legendary” and that she “went toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful men in the world and rarely backed down, making her a hero in her party and enemy number one for Republicans.”
Nobles reiterated moments later that Pelosi was “[a]n icon to Democrats and a villain to Republicans” and, as part of her farewell to leadership, she “paid homage to the presidents she worked with” even though she only touched on three of them.
Leaving out Trump, Nobles explained, was purposeful as she often “clashed” with him with moments such as “pointing him down during a cabinet meeting, sauntering out of the West Wing in sunglasses, and tearing up a copy of his State of the Union from the dais in the House chamber.”
Nobles then explained that her likely successor, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), “will face a Republican majority ready to take direct aim at the Biden White House.”
“[T]his job will be difficult. Because the margins in the new Congress will be so tight, they will not be able to lose a single vote, keeping Democrats together will be a priority and that, of course, was Nancy Pelosi's specialty,” he added.
And over on CBS Mornings, they too joined in on the “end of an era” laments with co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King boasting Pelosi was “winning rare praise from both sides of the aisle and I understand there were a lot of tears in the room yesterday.”
Friday’s Pelosi gush was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Ashley Homestore (on CBS), Google (on NBC), and Macy’s (on ABC). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 18, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
