House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday confirmed that she would, in fact, be comfortable with socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the top of the Democrat ticket in the general election.
The increasingly likely scenario of Sanders running away with the Democrat nomination is worrying moderate and establishment Democrats, but Pelosi, who has been tasked with assisting her colleagues in maintaining a Democrat majority in the House, does not share those concerns.
When asked if she is comfortable with the socialist senator as the Democrat nominee, she replied with a simple, “yes,” according to the Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) refused to endorse a specific Democrat candidate but argued that the “bottom line is very simple.”
“We have a lot of strong nominees. … I’m not supporting one over the other, but I think every one of them will beat President Trump,” he said, according to the Hill.
The responses from the two Democrat leaders follow mounting concerns over the impact a potential Sanders nomination would have on the Democrats’ ability to maintain control of the House and take the Senate. Politico reports that some Democrats are in “panic mode” over the socialist senator’s rise, and House Democrats are reportedly worried about their ability keep the House under a Sanders ticket.
As Breitbart News reported:
Specifically, Politico noted that so-called “centrists” in the House are “freaking out” over predictions of a “down-ballot bloodbath” if Sanders becomes the Democrat party’s presidential nominee.
Politico appeared to downplay House Democrats’ concerns about Sanders, stressing that the more powerful members of the party in the Senate do not share the doomsday sentiment of their colleagues in the lower chamber.The news outlet cited interviews with more than a dozen Senate Democrats.
Reportedly echoing the mood of vulnerable House Democrats running in districts won by President Donald Trump, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) told Politico that if Sanders is atop their party’s ticket, “We’re going to get absolutely wiped out.”
Pelosi’s one-word answer on Wednesday also follows what amounted to a bitter battle between the ultra-left Democrats in her caucus, including members of the “Squad,” three of whom — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — endorsed the socialist senator.
One could argue that Pelosi ultimately lost her battle against the ultra-progressive members of her caucus, as the attempt to oust the president via impeachment, which the House Speaker long dismissed, ultimately came to fruition and failed.
Meanwhile, the House GOP views a Sanders ticket as a means to boost their efforts to retake the House in the general election, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has advised them to dial back their enthusiasm.
“I’m reminded of when the Democrats back in 1980 were all pulling for Ronald Reagan to be the nominee because they thought he’d be the easiest to beat,” McConnell said, according to Politico.
“I think it’s going to be a contested general election with a lot of energy on both sides, and for myself, I’ll leave it up to the Democrats to pick who they’d like to be their candidate,” he added.