House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sharply rebuked CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview on Tuesday when the host brought up former President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump, speaking at a rally in Savannah, Georgia, earlier on Tuesday, claimed that Harris has “bigger cognitive problems” than President Joe Biden, further fueling his ongoing attacks on the Biden administration.
During the rally, Trump criticized the administration’s handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, referencing the 13 servicemembers who lost their lives and the military equipment left behind. However, it was his remarks targeting Harris that grabbed headlines, with Trump stating she faces greater cognitive challenges than the president himself, who ended his 2024 campaign amid scrutiny over his mental fitness.
Tapper, in his interview with Pelosi, read out Trump’s comments to get her reaction. The House Speaker, however, did not take kindly to the line of questioning. “Why would you even cover that?” Pelosi snapped back at Tapper. “This is a person who’s not on the level. He is a nominee for president. He is incompetent. Let’s not even talk about the silliness of it all and the weirdness of it all and the assault on women that it is.”
“We’re not going to talk issues,” she continued, emphasizing her view that Trump’s remarks were more of a political distraction than substantive criticism. Pelosi also framed the attack on Harris as part of a broader “assault on women,” a narrative she has employed previously when defending female politicians against what she views as sexist criticism.
Trump, on the other hand, has continued to cast doubts on the mental fitness of both Biden and Harris, making cognitive health a focal point of his campaign rhetoric.
While Biden has chosen to step back from the race, Harris remains the key figure in the Democratic Party’s strategy moving forward.
