Pelosi’s Response to Pushing Little Girl Makes It So Much Worse
© REUTERS / ELIZABETH FRANTZ
As her staff attempted to justify what she did, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s apparent treatment of Rep. Mayra Flores’ preteen daughter only became worse.
On June 21, as the newly elected Texas Republican representative took her oath of office, Pelosi posed for a picture with the Flores family. But it took a few days before people started to take notice of what she did to Flores’ daughter.
The speaker could be seen in the video pressing the small girl’s shoulder hard with her bony elbow as she stood between Flores’ husband and the couple’s daughters, appearing to force her away from the photo op.
The child, who is around 10 years old, posed for the photos while happily smiling and didn’t seem affected by the shove.
For a few days, nobody noticed, but by the weekend, the video had gone viral on social media, and people were discussing Pelosi’s awful behavior.
For her part, Flores rushed to Twitter on Sunday to express her pride in her tenacious daughter for being so kind and resilient in the face of such rudeness. Flores recently won a typically Democratic seat in a surprising election.
“I am so proud of my strong, beautiful daughter for not allowing this to faze her,” Flores wrote. “She continued to smile and pose for the picture like a Queen. No child should be pushed to the side for a photo op. PERIOD!!”
An examination of the video reveals Pelosi to be moving the Flores girl away from the focus of the picture. So it was a little difficult to believe the “explanation” of her behavior that she gave on Monday.
Do you believe Pelosi apologizes for this incident?
In a tweet, Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff blasted the press for “misrepresenting” the speaker’s actions, saying that his claim about what she was “really” doing defies logic.
“It’s sad to see ‘news outlets’ that know better misrepresent the Speaker’s effort to ensure Rep. Flores’ daughters wouldn’t be hidden behind her in all of the photos of such an important moment for their family,” staffer Drew Hammill wrote.
Pelosi wouldn’t have moved the youngster out of the center of the frame if she had been attempting to “ensure” that she was more visible during the photo op.
If Pelosi wanted to help prevent the youngster from being concealed from the cameras, one would imagine she would have put her arm around her and brought her forward.
Instead, the Democrat, who was 82 years old, appeared to push the child away from the action.
Despite her loud cries for “the children, the children,” Pelosi didn’t appear overly concerned about Mayra Flores’ daughter’s comfort on that crucial day for the girl’s family.
You may have also noticed that Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff made no attempt to apologize to anyone who may have been upset.
Even worse, a full week has passed since the rudely bumping of the young girl, and the speaker herself has declined to make any comments.
The situation did create one funny moment, though.
Flores responded, “Except my daughter didn’t flop like LeBron James!!” when Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy produced a slow-motion video of Pelosi’s impolite elbow move with Flores’ daughter suddenly changing into a certain dramatic NBA star.
Many, however, were outraged by Pelosi’s behavior:
As harsh as those comments are, Pelosi’s actions — and her staff’s explanation — sure don’t look good.
