'That may be your role—but it ain't mine': Pelosi slams MSNBC host as Trump 'apologist'
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tussled with MSNBC's Katy Tur in a live interview Monday during which the two women debated the record of former President Donald Trump.
The testy exchange began with Pelosi talking up incumbent President Joe Biden's record in comparison with his predecessor and the presumed Republican nominee in the upcoming presidential election.
"[Biden] created 9 million jobs in his term in office" Pelosi said. Trump, she said, had "the worst record of job loss of any president."
Tur then spoke up, saying: "That was a global pandemic."
Pelosi appeared momentarily dazed by the pushback and took a pregnant pause before responding.
"He had the worst record of any president," Pelosi snapped. "We've had other concerns in our country and if you want to be an apologist for Donald Trump — that may be your role — but it ain't mine."
Tur, known to cut off Trump speeches to issue fact-checks on the former president, stuck up for herself, responding: "I don't think anybody can accuse me of that."
Biden's term has seen unemployment reach its lowest level since 1969, and added to the record a 7.27 million job increase in 2021. Notably, the job market cooled a bit with only 2.7 million jobs added last year.
Trump's unemployment rate as of January 2021 was 6.3% — matching the "maximum unemployment rate of the early 2000s downturn" and totaled 10.1 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
But notably, the Economic Policy Institute cited the pandemic of 2020 harming the labor market with 15 percent of the workforce either unemployed as a direct result of COVID-19 or suffering a dip in hours and pay.
Pelosi ultimately argued the greater point was that Trump could regain the White House in 2025.
"Donald Trump is a great threat to our democracy," she told Tur. "What is democracy? What are the pillars? A free and independent press to tell the story. To keep everybody informed of what people are saying and doing. That transparency is essentially."