Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told North Carolina Democrats on Saturday that elections are “not about rewarding what you’ve done” but “what you do next.”
As Pelosi lambasted former President Donald Trump — addressing him simply as “whatever his name is” — and Republicans, she praised elected Democrats in the state. And as she touted the party’s accomplishments in Washington, she urged them not to rest on their laurels heading into November.
“It’s about what happens next, and what happens next is very important for our country,” she said.
Pelosi’s remarks at the annual Unity Dinner came as she and other Democratic elected officials, donors and associates are at odds over the party’s presidential nomination.
Apparently he has told President Joe Biden she doesn’t think he can win in November; supported an “open” nomination process in private discussions; and He received calls from members of the House of Representatives who were at risk who worry Biden could hurt their chances of winning the popular vote. She did not openly call on Biden to step down as the party’s nominee.
Pelosi, who became the first woman to lead the U.S. House of Representatives, made her own decision in November 2022 descend from the party leadership.
In her roughly half-hour speech, Pelosi mentioned the president by name very sparingly and mostly in reference to his role in approving legislative priorities.
She reserved her warmest praise for North Carolina Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate and attorney general Josh Stein and Gov. Roy Cooper, who also spoke.
Pelosi, meanwhile, has sharply criticized Trump and his Republican allies, devoting considerable time to the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” agenda.
“They don’t believe in science, they don’t believe in governance, they don’t believe in justice,” Pelosi said. “They believe in this stupid plan.”
Concluding her speech, the former speaker called on Democrats to mobilize statewide and deliver the party’s message. She also outlined “three ‘no’s.”
“No wasted time, no wasted resources and no regrets the day after the election,” Pelosi said.
NC GOP says party ‘more united than ever’ after Democratic event
Biden has repeatedly said he intends to stay in the race. Now sidelined in Delaware due to COVID-19, he said in a statement Friday evening that he “looks forward to returning to the campaign trail next week.”
As the party’s highest echelons vie for Biden’s candidacy, his campaign continues to organize events in North Carolina.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has emerged as Biden’s most likely successor if he steps down, weighed in on both Fayetteville AND Greensboro during the week. Her speeches made no mention of the ongoing partisan battles, focusing instead on former President Donald Trump, his running mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, and their policy agenda.
Before the dinner, the North Carolina Republican Party mocked her name while emphasizing broad support for its presidential candidate.
“If this is ‘Unity’ for them, I can’t imagine what it looks like when they are divided,” NC GOP Communications Director Matt Mercer said in a statement. “Republicans, on the other hand, are more united than ever behind President Donald J. Trump, Senator J.D. Vance, and Republicans across the length of the ballot.”
Cooper, Stein rally support, harshly criticize Robinson
North Carolina’s governor and the Democratic candidate running to succeed him urged voters to brace for a tough race while blasting the Republican candidate — Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson — as divisive and hazardous.
Cooper linked Robinson to Trump, saying workers would “get a hard time” under his leadership and abortion would be banned. And Stein called him a “conspiracy theorist” who “talks the most terrible things “about other people.”
Cooper’s name has been bandied about in political circles as a possible running mate to be Harris’ running mate if Biden were to drop out of the race, but he praised the current lineup in his speech Saturday.
“Everybody is for North Carolina,” Cooper said.
More than 900 people attended Saturday’s event, with about two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the convention center. USA Republic We went A man from California spoke briefly with the group, according to a video posted on social media.
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