‘He wants to be impeached’: The war of words between Democrats and the White House

WASHINGTON — The escalating legal battle between House Democrats and the White House has also become a war of words.

On Wednesday, Trump stormed out of a planned meeting on infrastructure with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. after saying that Democrats needed to drop all of their investigations of him before he would work with Democrats on issues like infrastructure and prescription drug pricing. 

And on Thursday afternoon, Trump held a press conference in which he defended his conduct in the meeting as “extremely calm” and called himself an “extremely stable genius.”

Here’s what Democrats and Republicans are saying amid the partisan warfare. 

Pelosi: “I pray for the president of the United States.”

On Thursday morning, Pelosi told reporters that, “I pray for the president of the United States. I wish that his family or his administration or staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.”

Pelosi has been sharply critical of Trump after negotiations over infrastructure and trade fell apart. 

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, center left, speaks during a meeting to support America’s farmers and ranchers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, May 23, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)

Trump: Pelosi is “not the same person. She’s lost it” 

Trump went after Pelosi during his press conference, saying that “she doesn’t understand it,” referring to a new trade deal between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. “She’s not the same person. She’s lost it. Let’s face it, she doesn’t understand it.”

Trump press conference: Trump calls himself an ‘extremely stable genius,’ while responding to Pelosi criticism

More: Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi warfare hits new level, raising the risk of even more gridlock

Kellyanne Conway: “She treats me like I’m either her maid or her driver or her pilot or her makeup artist”

Conway made the remarks in a Thursday interview with Fox News to discuss the meeting about infrastructure. Pelosi hasn’t commented on the dispute between her and Conway, but the Trump advisor has accused Pelosi of treating Conway like “staff.” 

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: The president was “very calm”

During Trump’s press conference on Thursday afternoon, the president called on senior White House staff to describe him as “very calm” during Wednesday’s meeting. 

“Very calm. I’ve seen both and this was definitely not angry or ranting,” said the White House Press Secretary. “Very calm and straightforward and clear that we have to actually get to work and do good things for the American people.” 

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 23: (L-R) Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders were all called on by President Donald Trump to attest to his demeanor during a Wednesday meeting with Congressional Democrats during an event with farmers and ranchers in the Roosevelt Room at the White House May 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

Schumer: The president was “agitated”

I would describe his demeanor as agitated. https://t.co/3ZTsA9u6mz

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 23, 2019

In a Thursday morning tweet, the Senate Minority Leader said that “I would describe his demeanor as agitated,” in reference to Trump’ s behavior the previous day. 

Pelosi: “When the ‘extremely stable genius starts acting more presidential,’ I’ll be happy to work with him”

When the “extremely stable genius” starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues. https://t.co/tfWVkj9CLT

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 23, 2019

In a Thursday afternoon tweet, Pelosi needled the president for his comments about being an “extremely stable genius,” and said that she’d work with him on policy after he started acting more presidential. 

Contributing: John Fritze and Michael Collins 

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/23/pelosi-trump-escalating-war-words-democrats-white-house/1207030001/

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.