Gowdy: Pelosi 'despicable' for stalling coronavirus relief for political reasons

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Trey Gowdy: No rationality behind California's outdoor dining ban

Fox News contributor reacts to the latest coronavirus restrictions on 'The Daily Briefing'

Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy slammed Speaker Nancy Pelosi Monday for owing her sudden flexibility on coronavirus relief to Joe Biden's election win, calling it one of the "most despicable things" he'd ever heard a leader say.

"That's one of the dumbest and also most despicable things I have ever heard an elected leader say," Gowdy said on "The Daily Briefing." "That because Joe Biden won it's OK to do it ... When you are suffering when you're in economic self-defense mode, you don't care about politics."

During negotiations over a second coronavirus relief bill, Pelosi had refused to back anything less than $2 trillion that included unrelated liberal pet issues, such as a limit to tax breaks for affluent people. She then signaled her support last week for a bipartisan, $908-billion package, citing that "we have a new president" and vaccines are on the way.

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"What is missing is if [former Speakers] Paul Ryan or John Boehner said or done what she just said, there would be media outcry," said Gowdy, who served under both men as a South Carolina congressman. "It really is so outrageous. It's hard to get me upset but what she just said makes me madder than hell."

Pelosi has defended herself against criticism that she held up relief to hurt President Trump politically. She grew angry with a reporter Friday when asked why she had not supported scaled-down relief earlier.

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"I'm going to tell you something," she said, pointing her finger at him. "Don't characterize what we did before as a mistake, as a preface to your question, if you want an answer. That was not a mistake. It was a decision, and it has taken us to a place where we can do the right thing without other, shall we say, considerations in the legislation that we don't want."

Congress has not passed a coronavirus relief bill since the $2.2 trillion package Trump signed in March. It included direct payments to most citizens, small business help, and increased unemployment aid.

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Republicans also lit into Pelosi last week for bringing up unrelated bills to the floor for symbolic votes, including ones on marijuana decriminalization and banning tiger ownership.