Chuck Schumer has revealed what he believes is Nancy Pelosi’s secret to being able to “handle” Donald Trump – that she has five children and “he ultimately was a child”.
The Senate Majority leader credited the House speaker’s motherhood with enabling her to deal with the former president, as the two Democrats sat down for their first-ever joint interview together.
“Nancy instinctively knew how to handle Trump, because for her first, you know, 35, 40 years of life, she raised five children,” Mr Schumer told CNN in the interview, which took place over dinner at Hunan Dynasty restaurant in Washington DC.
“She knew how to deal with children. And that’s what helped her deal with Trump, because he ultimately was a child.”
Mr Schumer pointed to one particular example where Mr Trump shut down the US government in December 2018 in retaliation because lawmakers refused his meet his demands over his US-Mexico border wall.
“She set him up so I could go in for the kill,” said Mr Schumer.
The senator’s praise of Ms Pelosi – and not-so-subtle jibe at Mr Trump – comes weeks after she revealed she was stepping down as leader of the lower chamber.
The 82-year-old, a mother-of-five who made history as the first woman to ever serve as speaker of the House in 2007, made the announcement days after Republicans won the House majority in the midterms and weeks after her husband was the victim of a vicious hammer attack at the couple’s California home.
In her speech, Ms Pelosi said that she had enjoyed working with George Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden during her time as speaker – notably excluding Mr Trump from the list.
Throughout Mr Trump’s presidency, he and Ms Pelosi repeatedly sparred. In one memorable moment, Ms Pelosi went viral for sarcastically clapping during the then-president’s 2019 State of the Union speech.
The following year, the speaker – who led two successful House votes to impeach him – ripped up his 2020 State of the Union speech.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, regularly threw shade on the Democrat, branding her with the disrespectful nickname “crazy Nancy”.
In this week’s interview, Ms Pelosi equally praised Mr Schumer as “masterful” in his own handling of Mr Trump, saying that he managed to find some understanding with the MAGA Republican due to them both being from New York.
“They spoke their own kind of – they understood each other,” she said.
When asked about the former president’s 2024 White House run, Ms Pelosi had more sharp words.
“I think there’s a need for an intervention by his family or something. I don’t think he’s on the level now,” she quipped, adding: “I don’t think that we should talk about him while we’re eating.”
