Chuck Schumer Explains How Nancy Pelosi Handled Donald Trump for Four Years

After more than three decades as colleagues in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sat down Thursday for their first joint interview, during which Schumer summed up how the outgoing Democratic House leader managed to deal with four years of Donald Trump being head of the executive branch: “She raised five children.”

Speaking to CNN’s Jamie Gangel over lunch at a Chinese restaurant, the pair were asked about seminal if not confrontational events in Pelosi’s relationship with the ex-president, for instance her tearing up his State of the Union speech in February 2020.

“Looking back at those moments, what was going through your mind?” Gangel asked both of them.

“I said, ‘He doesn’t stand a chance,’” Schumer replied. “I tell people [that] Nancy instinctively knew how to handle Trump, because for her first, you know, 35, 40 years of life, she raised five children, and she knew how to deal with children. And that’s what helped her deal with Trump, because he ultimately was a child.”

Pelosi, now a grandmother of nine, laughed. She said her approach was different from that of her friend, in part because Schumer, like Trump, is a New Yorker. “They spoke their own kind of—they understood each other.”

After addressing their response to Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, the pair were asked about Trump’s campaign for president, and about the man personally.

“The American people have gotten wise to him. It took a little while, but they did,” Schumer said, explaining why he doesn’t see a second term in Trump’s future. Pelosi, over a plate of dumplings, chimed in: “I don’t think that we should talk about him while we’re eating.”

Gangel then asked Pelosi to elaborate on a prior quote in which she called Trump “insane.”

“I think there is a need for an intervention there by his family or somebody,” the congresswoman replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t think he’s on the level, no.”

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