She demands that Republicans provide “flood of money” for COVID-19 relief package.
As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver comments accepting the GOP nomination Thursday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believes Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will not participate in debates against the president this fall.
“I myself – just do not tell anyone who told you this, especially Joe Biden: I do not think there should be any debates,” Pelosi, D-California, volunteered during a news conference with Capitol reporters Thursday morning. “I do not think the President of the United States has behaved in a way that everyone should [and] has every association with truth, evidence, data and facts. “
Pelosi urged Biden not to “legitimize a conversation” with Trump, pointing to the president’s “shameful stalking” during the 2016 debates against Hillary Clinton.
“I think he will probably act in a way that is below the dignity of the presidency. He does that every day,” Pelosi fumbled. “But I think it will also diminish what the debates are about, and they will not be about guilt on the part of someone who has no respect for the office he holds, let alone the democratic process. “
The Biden campaign previously sent a letter to the Commission on presidential debates agreeing to three debates with Trump and one vice presidential debate between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence. The campaign pointed to the former vice president’s earlier commitment, even if it agreed with Pelosi’s assessment of Trump’s behavior.
“We certainly agree with Speaker Pelosi on her views on the president’s behavior. But just as she strongly opposed that behavior in the Oval Office and the Cabinet, Joe Biden looks forward to doing the same on it. debate stage, “said Biden campaign. spokesman Andrew Bates.
As Trump is expected to defend his administration’s pandemic response during his speech on the Southern White House Thursday night, Pelosi stressed that the only way Democrats will agree on a new package of COVID-19 relief is if Republicans “flood of money.” Both sides are thought to be $ 2 trillion apart in their proposals.
“They just need to come up with more money,” Pelosi repeated. “They come in with an eyedropper.”
More than 100 days after the House passed the Heroes’ Act, with negotiations remaining in an impasse for weeks, Pelosi is expected to break the ice in a phone call with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Thursday afternoon. But Pelosi downplayed the role of the former congressman in the negotiations and struggled to get his name back.
Pelosi stated “whatever his name is, what is his name? Meadows” joined the discussion in a supporting role for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the administration’s chief negotiator, although the secretary has not spoke to Pelosi.
“If they are ready to meet us in the middle, we can sit down and talk,” she said. “So that’s, ‘you want to call me? I’ll bring back your call. Are you ready to bring much more money to the table?'”
ABC News’ John Verhovek contributed to this report
.
