Fact Check: No, Nancy Pelosi Is Not a 'Third-Rate Politician'

CLAIM: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is a “third-rate politician.”

VERDICT: False. She is at least a second-rate politician.

President Donald Trump allegedly called Speaker Pelosi a “third-rate politician,” according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who cited that as one of the reasons Democrat leaders walked out of a bipartisan, bicameral White House meeting on the situation in Syria.

The insult was apparently too much for Pelosi, though the White House said that Pelosi and Schumer had sought a confrontation. Just an hour before, Pelosi had brought a resolution to a vote on the House floor opposing Trump’s policy — and it passed overwhelmingly. Pelosi did not seem to have the patience to wait to hear what Trump had to say.

But — assuming Trump did call her a “third-rate politician,” which he has not denied — is it true?

Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the House, and one of the few people ever to have held that title twice. She lost power in 2010 after forcing Obamacare through the legislature, infamously declaring that “we have to pass the [health care] bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” Instead of resigning — as is customary in much of the democratic world after a defeat — she clung to power, ruling a minority caucus with an iron fist as its moderate members were decimated, leaving behind a left-wing and largely urban caucus more dependent on her than ever.

But Pelosi skillfully rode the “Resistance” back to power after the 2018 midterm elections, dancing carefully around the issue of impeachment. Her comeback arguably stands as one of the greatest in American political history.

Still, in her second try, Speaker Pelosi has achieved almost nothing. She capitulated to her party’s left wing early, appointing radicals like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to key posts like the House Foreign Affairs Committee, from which the first-term congresswoman spouted antisemitic rhetoric at will. Most recently, Pelosi allowed the so-called “progressive” wing to pressure her into pushing for an “impeachment inquiry” — without waiting for evidence to emerge. Pelosi continues to block an effort to have the House vote to authorize such an inquiry, as precedent would seem to require. And in doing so, she appears to have shut down possible opportunities for bipartisan cooperation.

So it is wrong to call Pelosi “third-rate.” But it would also be wrong to overstate her political skills. Throughout her career, she has often failed to seize opportunities for bipartisan cooperation. She often invokes principles of faith, and the U.S. Constitution, but seems to have little understanding of either. Her latest tactic is to insist that since Congress is a co-equal branch of government, she enjoys the same status as the president. She has hardly earned it.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.