And just like that, it’s over.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has informed her colleagues that she will not seek re-election to the Democratic leadership.
You may view her introduction announcement below:
BREAKING: PELOSI: “I will not seek re-election as Democratic leader of our caucus in the next Congress." pic.twitter.com/4eNKsAs0ti
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 17, 2022
Pelosi’s declaration follows the Republican retaking the House majority in the midterm elections on November 8.
To be clear, Pelosi has merely stated that she is retiring from leadership roles; she has not resigned from Congress.
You can watch her full remarks below:
This move has been in the works for quite some time, but Pelosi suggested that the recent attack on her husband had a part in reassessing her priorities.
82-year-old Paul Pelosi was reportedly beaten with a hammer in his own home. The scenario appears to have been stressful enough to factor into Nancy’s decision to resign, despite the fact that a number of incident-related details have been kept mainly under wraps.
Possibly contributing to Pelosi’s decision to resign is the already increasing political temperature following the midterm elections.
Former President Donald Trump’s recent announcement that he will run for president again in 2024 may be too much for Speaker Pelosi to handle.
She is 82 years old, after all. Pelosi is two years older than Vice President Joe Biden, and battling a potential future president at every turn does not seem particularly appetizing to somebody who likes to criticize Biden’s cognitive ability.
In addition, Trump has made it clearly obvious that he dislikes Pelosi, recently referring to her as “an animal.”
While Trump and most Republicans are unlikely to shed many tears over Pelosi’s departure, it didn’t stop the usual suspects from praising her:
Thank you, Speaker Pelosi, for everything. pic.twitter.com/ftZjv3NBy0
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) November 17, 2022
We don’t say it enough — Nancy Pelosi has been one of the best speakers of the House in American history. pic.twitter.com/aHGdjO8PKa
— Christopher Hale (@chrisjollyhale) November 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1593305957215313920%7Ctwgr%5E7cd113f207f6debc19b5ce884d75718a27f73d48%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.westernjournal.com%2Fbreaking-nancy-pelosi-announces-retirement-leadership%2F
Intriguingly, Joe Biden apparently requested Nancy Pelosi to serve another term after the unexpected midterm results, in which Democrats performed far better than anticipated.