House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) didn’t hold back on Sunday when asked why she called President Donald Trump a “weak leader,” especially in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on Fox News, Pelosi said she reflected in prayer on Easter before her comments.
“What I decided was the president has made many mistakes,” she said on the right-wing network. Trump ignored science, dismissed criticism of his early inaction as a “hoax” and claimed the virus would “miraculously” go away, she said.
But those issues can be reviewed later, Pelosi said.
But now, she said, Trump is blaming others, including her and the nation’s governors ― and that prompted her to call him weak.
“Leaders take responsibility,” Pelosi told Chris Wallace. “So I said he’s a weak leader. He doesn’t take responsibility. He places blame on others.”
Pelosi called on Trump to make decisions based on science:
Trump later fired back at the speaker, calling her “dumb” and saying she will be “overthrown.”
Fox News has come under fire because a number of its most prominent hosts initially downplayed the threat of the pandemic, echoing Trump. More recently, the network has been criticized for giving voice to those who want to end the shutdowns and reopen the economy, even at the expense of American lives.
The Washington Post highlighted the network’s shift in tone: