Politics

Former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi Joins Anti-Trump Protest in Scranton

1 week ago
3 min. read

The 85-year-old current California Congresswoman joined the “Hands Off!” rally to protest alleged priorities by the Trump administration.

California Rep. Nancy Pelosi joined Scranton’s “Hands Off!” rally to protest Donald Trump and his administration while the former House Speaker was visiting Northeast Pennsylvania for a wedding. Pelosi said she attended numerous rallies with her daughter but was excited to be in town to join this one. Pelosi also spoke at the protest to criticize President Trump, her political rival for much of the last decade.

“As an example, before, when what’s his name was president and he had a Republican Congress, he gave a tax cut to the rich, with 83% of the benefits going to the top 1%, adding $2 trillion to the national debt,” Pelosi said. Congressional Democrats have accused Trump and Republicans of planning to dismantle government-funded programs such as Medicare and Social Security, something several GOP officials say they will not do.

Most recently, Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) joined a nearby roundtable discussion in Luzerne County to discuss cost-cutting efforts of Republicans, and to shoot down accusations that there are any immediate plans to make cuts to healthcare or social security programs. “I’ve said this time and time again that under no circumstances will we reduce the benefits to the Americans who deserve those benefits,” said Bresnahan. Some Democrats, including Scranton’s Mayor Paige Cognetti, have accused Bresnahan of voting with Republicans on a recent funding bill that included cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, something Bresnahan has repeatedly denied being the case. The freshman Congressman was further quoted in March during a virtual town hall that neither he nor his colleagues were looking to make cuts to Medicare. 

Rep. Pelosi, and others in attendance at the “Hands Off!” rally, said they are not convinced by Bresnahan’s support for government programs or leaving entitlements in place for eligible Americans.

“Thirty percent of the people in Lackawanna County depend on Medicaid. It’s for the children, of course — that would be justification enough — but it’s also for our seniors, for long-term health care … It’s for people with disabilities. It’s for our veterans who need additional help,” Pelosi said. “Every Republican in Pennsylvania, no matter what they say when they came home, voted to cut Medicaid by $800 billion.” Pelosi also gave a nod to Scranton-born President Joe Biden, who did not attend the rally and has rarely been seen in public since losing to President Trump on January 20th this year. 

Despite the reports from Pelosi and fellow Democrats in congress, current House Speaker Mike Johnson said last month prior to passing the funding bill Pelosi referenced, that cuts to those entitlement programs were off the table. Don’t take my word for it,” Johnson said. “Go do a word search of the budget resolution that we passed on Tuesday. There is not one mention of Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security.”

A dueling rally, that Pelosi was not in attendance for, was later held in nearby Wilkes-Barre, and featured signs comparing Trump and his cabinet to Nazi Germany and featuring several posters that depicted Department of Government Efficiency Head Elon Musk as Adolf Hitler.