Pelosi: 'Faith-Oriented' People Stalled Aid Package - They 'Don't Believe in Science'
Democratic House speaker attempts to shift blame for delays in COVID relief bill
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Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has attempted to shift the blame for delays on her COVID-19 relief package, claiming the bill was stalled by "faith-oriented" people because they "don't believe in science."
On Monday, Rep. Pelosi claimed that a number of people in Washington “don’t believe in science” because of their religion, which she claims, have delayed negotiations on another emergency aid package.
Pelosi made the outlandish excuse on the House floor while discussing the coronavirus aid package that Congress passed on Tuesday.
The speaker appeared to attack President Donald Trump's Christian faith while explaining why the aid package, which has been debated in Congress for months, could not get passed until this week.
According to Pelosi, the relief package couldn't get to a vote until now because the Trump administration did not believe in taking a “scientific approach” to the virus.
“We didn’t do it, we couldn’t pass legislation until now because the administration simply did not believe in testing, tracing, treatment, wearing masks, sanitation, separation, and the rest – scientific approach,” Pelosi claimed.
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“It becomes clear to us now that they believed in herd immunity – quackery springing right from the Oval Office and not denied sufficiently by some of the CDC and the rest,” Speaker Pelosi told the House.
“Now we have a vaccine, and that gives us hope," she continued.
"A vaccine that springs from science.
"People say around here sometimes, ‘I’m faith-oriented, so I don’t believe in science’ and I said ‘Well you can do both.’
"Science is an answer to our prayers, and our prayers have been answered with a vaccine,” she continued.
“In this legislation, we have provisions for it to be developed, purchased, and distributed in a way, again, that is fair and equitable and free.”
WATCH:
.@SpeakerPelosi on Republicans & the Covid vaccine: "People say around here sometimes, 'I’m faith-oriented so I don’t believe in science.’" pic.twitter.com/4nJIvSxJEd
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 21, 2020
The day before, the Democratic House speaker said that “most” of the deaths from the coronavirus so far are because of Trump, expanding on a claim she made months earlier in a July interview on CNN.
“The denial, the delay, the distortion, the calling it a hoax has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, not all of them attributed to President Trump, but most of them that could have been avoided,” Pelosi said.
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Pelosi has been at the center of talks over a new pandemic aid package for months but declined to negotiate on many of her pricey demands with Republicans until after the November 3 election.
In remarks to the press earlier this month with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leading in the electoral college vote, Pelosi said that the way Biden plans to deal with the virus warrants her settling for a smaller aid package.
“Joe Biden committed to ending and crushing the virus and had a build better America initiative, build back better,” Pelosi said.
“A vaccine, answer to our prayers.
"An answer to our prayers of 95% effectiveness in terms of Pfizer and Moderna and there may be others coming forward.
"That is a total game-changer, a new president, and a vaccine.”
“This has simplicity. It’s what we’ve had in our bills,” she added.
“It’s for a shorter period of time, but that’s okay now because we have a new president.
"A president who recognizes that we need to depend on science to stop the virus.”
Biden’s plan to combat the coronavirus is strikingly similar to actions Trump has already taken.
