House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi couldn’t could hold back her laughter Thursday when asked if she had any personal sympathy for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican who unexpectedly lost in a primary election this week.
“Sure,” said Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, chuckling and breaking into a wide smile at her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill.
“But of course,” she said, steadying herself. “I mean, it’s hard to lose an election.”
Mrs. Pelosi later offered this assessment of her feelings: “I have as much sympathy for Mr. Cantor as … he would have for me.”
Mr. Cantor’s loss to conservative David Brat rattled Capitol Hill Republicans and set off a shake up of House GOP leadership, with elections set for next week to pick a new majority leader and whip.
Still, Mrs. Pelosi said that House Democrats were not “gleeful” over Mr. Cantor’s surprising fall.
“We’re too busy to be gleeful,” she said.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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