House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats need to "change that subject" on inflation on Sunday as polls show a grim midterm outcome for her party with the economy and inflation among the primary issues for voters.
Pelosi made the comment on CBS' "Face the Nation" when asked about the Democrats’ final efforts to rally voters in the run-up to November 8. Host Margaret Brennan cited a CBS poll predicting Republicans will win a majority in the house with a total of 224 seats, asking Pelosi whether Democrats have a plan to shift momentum with 15 days until Election Day.
Pelosi insisted her party is feeling "confident" about a favorable midterm outcome, adding that she’s "very pleased" with the early voting turnout. But with the electoral impact of inflation hard to dismiss, Pelosi said it’s time for her party's midterm candidates to re-brand the Republican-dominated issue to "inspire" more Democrat voters.
"The fact is that when I hear people talk about inflation…we have to change that subject," Pelosi said. "Inflation is a global phenomenon. The European Union, the U.K., the British have higher inflation rate than we do here. The fight is not about inflation," she insisted. "It’s about the cost of living."
"It’s about getting out the vote," she told Brennan. "Everything else is a conversation compared to that. But in order to do that, you have to have inspiration. You can’t run on empty."
Pelosi touted her party’s efforts to "lower the cost of living" by introducing legislation to reduce prescription drug and energy costs.
"If you look at what we have done to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, to bring down the cost of energy and the rest in our legislation, you will see that it has been opposed every step of the way by the Republicans, and they have no plan for lowering the cost of living or helping with inflation," she said.
New polls from The New York Times and Associated Press indicated big gains for Republicans in the upcoming elections, showing that the top issues for Americans are the economy and inflation, and they trust Republicans to handle those issues more than Democrats.
Pelosi dismissed the polls in an interview with Punchbowl News last week, echoing the claim that inflation is a "global" issue and is "not as bad" in the United States "as it is in some countries."
"We’ll have to message it better in the next three weeks ahead," she said at the time. "I think we’re in great shape. Other people don’t want to believe that."
