Pelosi says some Republicans have told her Dems ‘have to beat’ Trump in November

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said some Republicans have told her Democrats “have to beat” former President Trump in the election this November for politics to return to normal.

Pelosi joined MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday to discuss the new Democratic ticket, the attacks she’s received from the far right since Trump took power and her recently published book, “The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House.”

“The Republican Party has been hijacked, and it’s now a cult, and they should take it back. Because a republic needs a strong Republican Party,” Pelosi said.

The California Democrat said the GOP has done “great things” while in leadership and provided for the country, but said “what now?” in reference to Trump-era politics.

“So, in any event, we just have to win the election,” she said.

“They have told me, some of the Republicans, ‘You have to beat them in the general, because we can’t beat them in the primary. And then we will come back to our debate on the issues,’” Pelosi said of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

Pelosi and Trump have traded insults for years. As one of Trump’s most outspoken critics during his White House term, Pelosi’s book details her experience inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters came looking for her.

Despite reports saying she led a pressure campaign to oust President Biden from the top of the 2024 ticket this summer, Pelosi said she left the decision completely up to the president.

Pelosi — who remains one of the most powerful and influential Democrats in the party — said she did not make one phone call during the transition period after the first presidential debate.

Pelosi officially backed Vice President Harris last month, endorsing her with “immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future.”