FLINT, Mich. — Nancy Pelosi doesn’t believe the Republican presidential candidates are taking seriously the lead water crisis that’s left 100,000 people in this eastern Michigan town unable to drink tap water.
In a press conference following a meeting between Flint residents and 25 Democratic House members, the House minority leader said the fact the candidates have barely discussed Flint on the campaign trail and the single question Sen. Marco Rubio faced in Thursday’s debate in Detroit show it’s not a major issue for them.
“I don’t think you saw that in the debate last night,” she said. “To be, by proximity to Flint, so close and not to even enlarge the issue and say, ‘This is terrible what happened in Flint, but how many people in our country are at risk?'”
In contrast to the Republican candidates, the Democratic presidential candidates, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, have talked about Flint on the trail and will debate here Sunday evening. Both have previously visited, Clinton has released two campaign ads, and Sanders has called on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to resign.
Flint residents can’t drink their water due to lead contamination brought on by a switch in water sources in April 2014. Acidic river water ate away at lead pipes and allowed the hazardous element to leach off into drinking water.
The city’s congressman, Rep. Dan Kildee, led a delegation of 25 Democratic lawmakers to the city Friday.
The only question asked in Thursday’s debate about Flint went to Rubio, who repeated a line that many Republicans in Michigan have used since the scandal broke: Democrats are politicizing the issue instead of trying to help solve it.
Pelosi rejected that idea.
“This is a major responsibility that, in my view, has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with our responsibilities to the American people,” Pelosi said.
She said the lack of time spent on the issue during the debate, held 70 miles from Flint in the luxurious Fox Theatre in downtown Detroit, was shameful.
“The one fleeting second that they addressed the challenge to our conscience that Flint is, I think that was really an embarrassment,” she said. “I think this is one of the least political days I have spent. This isn’t about politicizing. This is about accountability, it’s about helping, it’s about healing. It’s about giving people hope.”
She added, “This is about government, it’s not about politics.”
Pelosi added that congressional Republicans are not in the same boat as the candidates running for president.
She said that she met with House Speaker Paul Ryan last week about Flint and had a productive discussion. She said Republican leadership in the Capitol recognizes the seriousness of the situation in Flint.
“In meeting with the speaker on this issue, I saw nothing but signs of goodwill as we would go forward,” she said. “Because, they’re not in denial. The presidential [candidates] may be in denial and the governor may be in denial but … there is a recognition that we all have a responsibility.”
