Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton Rejects Nancy Pelosi’s ‘Transitional’ Speaker Pitch

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) rejected House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s pitch to act as “transitional” speaker that would help bridge the divide between old guard Democrats and fresh-faced lawmakers.

In an interview with CNN anchor John Berman on Wednesday, he said the time has come for “leadership of a new generation.”

A partial transcript is as follows: 

BERMAN: I know there are six days to go [until the November elections], I know you don’t want to count your chickens before they hatch, but if Democrats do take the House, you have been critical of Nancy Pelosi’s leadership of the Democratic caucus and you suggested perhaps you won’t support her as speaker if you guys do take the House. She said maybe she could serve as some kind of transitional speaker, a year or two, one term or two before ceding it perhaps to the next generation. Could you accept that?

MOULTON: No. It’s not time for transitional leadership. We need leadership of a new generation. It’s time for a new generation of leaders in Washington, not just in the Republican Party, but in our party, the Democratic party, as well. We need leaders who are going to actually bring our party back together. We need leaders who are going to unite Americans, rather than divide Americans. We need leaders who speak to the next generation of Democrats. Leader Pelosi’s message to people like me, who are willing to challenge the status quo or question the establishment, is ‘you’re too ambitious.’ We need ambition in America. We need leaders who are going to tackle the tough challenges like immigration, like improving healthcare. That’s what I’m seeing in candidates like Amy [McGrath] across the country. I’m going to go see Mikie Sherrill up in New Jersey, Chrissy Houlahan in Pennsylvania. These are amazing, new Democratic leaders, who are willing to take on these tough issues and people look at them and say ‘that’s the future of our party.’