On this past weekend's Fox News Sunday, panel member Mara Liasson - also of NPR - invoked the name of Winston Churchill as she recommended that House Democrats send off Nancy Pelosi "in a blaze of glory" after having "accomplished historic things," rather than keep her on as party leader in the House. Liasson:
Nancy Pelosi did two things for which she will go down in history. She was an incredibly effective majority leader when, and Speaker, there was an opposition President. She helped make the majority. And when she was in the majority, she was the hammer that got through President Obama's agenda and sent it to the Senate. However, that is a completely different role than what she wants to do now. For which, I think she's kind of like Winston Churchill. I mean, she accomplished historic things for the Democrats, and they should be sending her off in a blaze of glory and adjusting for this new regime.
Panel member Brit Hume took exception with Liasson connecting Churchill and Pelosi. After Hume argued that "the difference between her and Winston Churchill is that Winston Churchill was turned out after he led his country to a great victory," leading Liasson to respond that she agreed Pelosi "should be turned out," the exchange continued:
BRIT HUME: But she led her party to historic losses in the House of Representatives.
MARA LIASSON: After she did a lot of historic things. All I'm saying is-
HUME: I understand. The problem is the historic, if you're going to do historic things, it is a good idea for the country and for yourself to do historic things that people like. She failed to do that.
As FNC host Bill O'Reilly discussed her comments during a segment on Monday's The O'Reilly Factor, he informed viewers that Liasson had released a statement to his show backtracking somewhat on the Churchill reference which she called "an imperfect analogy." O'Reilly, quoting Liasson: "I used an imperfect analogy while trying to explain what I meant. I think Pelosi has done a good job throughout her term, was very successful."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the November 7 Fox News Sunday on the Fox network:
MARA LIASSON: Nancy Pelosi did two things for which she will go down in history. She was an incredibly effective majority leader when, and Speaker, there was an opposition President. She helped make the majority. And when she was in the majority, she was the hammer that got through President Obama's agenda and sent it to the Senate. However, that is a completely different role than what she wants to do now. For which, I think she's kind of like Winston Churchill. I mean, she accomplished historic things for the Democrats, and they should be sending her off in a blaze of glory and adjusting for this new regime.
BRIT HUME: Mara, the difference between her and Winston Churchill is that Winston Churchill was turned out after he led his country to a great victory. Nancy Pelosi wants to stay on and continue to head up banners flying after the-
LIASSON: That's the point I'm making, that she should be turned out after she led-
HUME: But she led her party to historic losses in the House of Representatives.
LIASSON: After she did a lot of historic things. All I'm saying is-
HUME: I understand. The problem is the historic, if you're going to do historic things, it is a good idea for the country and for yourself to do historic things that people like. She failed to do that.
CHRIS WALLACE: We have to take a break here. You know, I have to say, when I was envisioning this panel, it never occurred to me that we would be in an argument about whether or not Nancy Pelosi was or wasn't like Winston Churchill. But who knows where it's gonna go? Which is part of the fun of it.
- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center