On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke at a White House event to celebrate the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” a $369 billion spending bill that’s the cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s first two years in office.
And she had a pretty awful moment the camera’s captured.
Like the embarrassing moment where former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had to ask his audience to “please clap” during his failed 2016 presidential campaign, Pelosi was seen asking her audience to applaud.
“Mr. President, thank you for unifying and inspiring a vision of a stronger, fairer, safer future for all – for our children. Your extraordinary leadership has made this glorious day possible. I –,” she paused. “That’s an applause line.”
Pelosi received her round of applause… but she became defensive afterward.
“Jill was applauding,” Pelosi claimed, according to the transcript on her website.
Take a look —
2022’s “Please clap” https://t.co/SGFKPec6EZ
— Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) September 13, 2022
Jeb Bush asks New Hampshire audience to 'please clap'https://t.co/VslvIxjoXk
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 3, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., played off Pelosi’s remark later in the conference.
Pelosi was saying, “Let us salute Leader Schumer, his colleagues in the Senate, for their extraordinary leadership and the success in bringing this bill forward.” Schumer responded, “That’s an applause line.”
Pelosi faced criticism for celebrating the “Inflation Reduction Act” mere hours after a disappointing report on inflation.
The Labor Department — the publisher of the Consumer Price Index — found 0.1 percent month-over-month inflation in August… and 8.5 percent year-over-year inflation.
In other words, prices remain elevated from over a year of inflation prior to July 2021, and these high prices are causing pain for consumers.
The Federal Reserve uses its own metric to measure inflation, but the central bank still looks likely to continue hiking rates aggressively.
This month, mortgage rates reached a whopping 6 percent, the highest rate since 2008. These high rates have been credited with pricing many renters out of homeownership.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 800 points on the day of the disappointing report about inflation, amid Pelosi’s celebration.
It’s no wonder that the crowd hesitated to applaud.
Would you clap for this?
The Horn editorial team