President Trump said Wednesday that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “deserves” to be the next Speaker after Democrats won back control of the House in Tuesday’s midterms, and suggested Republicans could vote to ensure it happens.
“In all fairness, Nancy Pelosi deserves to be chosen Speaker of the House by the Democrats. If they give her a hard time, perhaps we will add some Republican votes. She has earned this great honor!” Trump tweeted.
It’s unlikely House Republicans would actually vote for Pelosi, whom the GOP has for years cast as a boogeyman on the campaign trail.
{mosads}The president called Pelosi on Tuesday night after Democrats were projected to take back the majority in the House and acknowledged Pelosi’s calls for bipartisanship in her victory speech.
Wednesday’s tweet marked a sudden shift in tone for Trump, who has demonized Pelosi for months as he campaigned for GOP congressional candidates leading up to the midterms, and consistently blamed her and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for impeding his agenda.
Earlier Wednesday morning, the president threatened to counter efforts by House Democrats to investigate the White House by launching investigations into Senate Democrats.
“Two can play that game!” he tweeted.
Democrats took back control of the House on Tuesday, securing more than the 218 seats needed to do so.
Supporters at Pelosi’s victory speech broke into chants of “Speaker” as she celebrated the victory.
Pelosi, who has led House Democrats since 2003, is the favorite to be elected Speaker in the next session of Congress, despite some resistance from members of her own party clamoring for a generational change.
She has expressed confidence that she will ascend to the top post in the House, and suggested late last month that she could serve as a “transitional figure” until a new leader emerges from the Democratic Party.
The Speaker must receive votes from a majority of House members in the new session of Congress.