House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she does not have any regrets over her initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in February.
“No, not at all. We had had four bills, all bipartisan, but they have not been implemented by the administration,” Pelosi told CNN on Sunday when she was asked about whether she underestimated the crisis or if she had regrets about how Congress handled the pandemic.
“And no, we said testing from March 4. We were writing the bill to find out what the threat was to us while the president was saying delay, denial, calling it a hoax, and causing deaths,” she added.
A CNN anchor played comments from Pelosi on Feb. 29 saying “there are no indications of widespread infections in the United States” when the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus was spreading in China. Only several cases were reported in the United States at the time.
“No, what we did was at that exact time was writing the first COVID bill, which we brought to the floor and passed on March 4, and it was about testing, testing, testing,” she added. “Because if you don鈥檛 test you don鈥檛 have a handle on what the problem is.”
Pelosi said that for the next stimulus bill, which is expected to be debated later this month, she believes GOP and Democratic lawmakers can come to an agreement.
鈥淲e have to find a compromise because we must extend it,” she said on the show.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Republicans have said there is no need to extend the extra $600 per week payments to laid-off workers.
Focus News: Pelosi Defends Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Response