House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday dismissed calls from some in her party who say it's time for her to step aside.
A handful of Democrats have publicly said that after losing four special elections since January, especially a race in the Atlanta suburbs earlier this week, and failing to regain the majority in the House in the last four national elections, their party needs new leadership in the House. Others have privately said Pelosi weighs down Democrats and could prevent the party from retaking the House in the upcoming midterm elections.
In her weekly news conference, the San Francisco lawmaker called herself a "master legislator" and a "strategic, politically astute leader" who can raise a lot of money and has experience winning a majority in Congress.
With Republicans controlling both chambers, and President Donald Trump in the White House, now isn't the right time for new leadership, she said.
"I'm worth the trouble, quite frankly," she said. "I love the fray."
She dismissed the members who have said it is time for a change as "blatantly self-serving" and "having fun on TV."
After being challenged for the post of minority leader in November by members who said they didn't feel like they had enough input, Pelosi created more positions within the party leadership. She indicated Thursday that those members who play within the system are the ones she expects to one day lead the party, not the representatives complaining about her leadership.
"Maybe they don't want to play in that arena, but I'm very proud of the members who do," she said. "We're paving a way for a new generation of leadership."
Trump waded in Thursday morning with a tweet urging Democrats to keep Pelosi on, saying having her as a foil helps the GOP.
"I certainly hope the Democrats do not force Nancy P out. That would be very bad for the Republican Party — and please let Cryin' Chuck stay!" he tweeted.
Pelosi laughed when asked about the tweet.
"That's the first one I think he didn't write. The Republicans gave him that," she said. "It's a classic Republican line."
The Republican Party has spent tens of millions of dollars in attack ads attaching Democrats to her, Pelosi said.
"The fact is, they will always make a target. Sen. Reid was a target, Sen. Daschle was a target, Tip O'Neill was a target, I am a target. They always want to choose our leaders and usually they go after the most effective leaders because they want to diminish the opportunity that we have," Pelosi said.
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