Progressive groups slam display of Pelosi's ice cream freezer as 'unforced error' during election
Trump campaign parlayed Pelosi's ice cream freezer into an ad
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Progressive groups slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their post-mortem on the 2020 election for "showing off" her expensive freezers full of premium Jeni's ice cream during an interview at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
"When Democratic leaders make unforced errors like showing off two sub-zero freezers full of ice cream on national television or cozy up with Wall Street executives and corporate lobbyists while Trump tells voters we are the party of the swamp, it is not surprising that we lose," reads the memo, which was sent by groups including Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The economy was voters' top concern in this election," the memo said. "We need a new generation of leadership grounded in a multiracial, working class experience and background."
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks to reporters about Election Day results in races for the House of Representatives, at Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool)
The memo comes after House Democrats performed well below expectations on election night, with some more moderate Democrats blaming their tough races on progressives.
Rep. Cheri Bustos, who chaired the Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee and is from Illinois, said she was stepping down after the party lost seats.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pelosi showed off a freezer full of ice cream during an April appearance on CBS' "Late Late Show." The Trump reelection campaign parlayed Pelosi's appearance into an ad portraying the speaker as elitist by juxtaposing Pelosi showing her freezer full of ice cream with headlines that Americans were waiting for "hours" at food banks.
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"Right now, it's survival mode," one man says in the ad. In the following clip, Pelosi says: "I don't know what I would have done if ice cream were not invented."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The commercial ends with a spoof quote, playing off of one attributed to French Queen Marie Antoinette.
"Let them eat ice cream," the quote reads, before citing "Nancy Antoinette."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' inquiry to Pelosi's office was not immediately returned.
Fox News' Tyler Olson, Sam Dorman and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.