Nancy Pelosi had to beg a White House audience to applaud her gushing praise of President Biden at his widely derided “inflation reduction” party this week.
The House speaker noted the uncomfortable silence that met her speech at Tuesday’s event, which was thrown in defiance of the administration’s ongoing economic crisis.
It came as she thanked Biden “for unifying and inspiring a vision of a stronger, fairer, safer future for all — for our children.”
“Your extraordinary leadership has made this glorious day possible,” she gushed as Biden watched with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Met with silence, Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after a brief, awkward pause, “That’s an applause line.”
After a smattering of clapping, the leading Democrat further highlighted the earlier silence by suggesting that the president’s only supporter had been first lady Jill Biden.
“Jill was applauding,” Pelosi quipped with an awkward chuckle.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha was among many who called it “Nancy Pelosi’s Jeb Bush moment,” referring to the then-Florida governor urging supporters to “please clap” at a campaign event during the 2016 election.
“It’s like a comedian telling an audience, ‘Please laugh!’ after telling a joke — it doesn’t play well,” Concha told Fox News.
The “tone-deaf” event also proved that “the elites in Washington do not care” that “people are hurting” from soaring inflation, he said.
He noted how even anchors on left-leaning CNN called out Biden for the untimely celebration.