At his final foreign press conference in South America, President Barack Obama boosted Nancy Pelosi’s bid for another term as minority leader of the House of Representatives.
Asked during the reporter question and answer session if House Democrats should give Pelosi another term as leader, Obama said he doesn’t normally “meddle” with such Democratic Party decisions, “and I shouldn’t meddle here,” but he didn’t stop himself from doing just that.
Obama called Pelosi, for two terms the first female speaker of the House, an “outstanding and historic political leader” and a “remarkable leader” for good measure.
“I cannot speak highly enough about Nancy Pelosi,” Obama effused in Peru Sunday.
He credited Pelosi with making “so much of what we accomplished” possible with “her smarts, her tenacity, her legislative skill.”
Obama said that Pelosi “does stuff that’s tough, not just stuff that’s easy.” In fact, “she’s done stuff that’s unpopular in her own base because it’s the right thing to do for the American people.”
One tough thing Pelosi did that proved unpopular was the passage of Obamacare in 2010. She is being challenged for leadership now because her party lost control of the House that November and has never got close to a majority since.
