House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants to stay away from the White House amid negotiations for another coronavirus relief package.
“I wouldn’t go anywhere near the White House. It’s one of the most dangerous places in the country, both in terms of the assault that it makes on truth, as well as health,” the California Democrat stated during a Wednesday interview on ABC’s The View after she was asked how to bridge the current political divide.
Pelosi then broached the issue of the president’s health, acknowledging that she speculated to her staff that Trump appeared to be “medicated” during his State of the Union address earlier this year. She also wondered aloud whether the medications that the president has taken following his COVID-19 diagnosis last week could explain his erratic behavior. But Pelosi insisted she was only repeating what some “healthcare providers” have said.
“After that, I tore up the speech and all, but after that, I said to my staff, I said, ‘I think he was medicated.’ There’s something wrong with how he came on and presented,” Pelosi said. “I said yesterday to my colleagues, I said, ‘There are those who say that a steroid has an impact on people’s thinking.’ I don’t know, but there are those healthcare providers who say that. Also, if you have the coronavirus, it has an impact as well. So the combination of something that should be viewed.”
Trump has been heavily criticized for his cavalier attitude toward the coronavirus, even after he tested positive for COVID-19, as members of his inner circle and others have also contracted the virus.
In tweets on Tuesday, Trump abruptly called off talks about federal coronavirus aid via Twitter. Trump said Pelosi refused to budge from seeking $2.4 trillion in federal aid, which is significantly more than $1.6 trillion Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered on behalf of the president.
Shortly after the president called off negotiations, which led to a stock market dive, Trump called on Congress to pass a “stand-alone” bill for personal checks and financial relief in other areas.
