Pelosi Rival Stephen Jaffe Says He Supports Medicare-For-All As Trump Tweets That ‘Nancy P’ Is Good For GOP

Things are falling apart for Nancy Pelosi, and that spells good news for Pelosi’s Democratic primary rival Stephen Jaffe. The House Minority Leader is feeling the pressure from all sides after Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff in a special election in Georgia. It was the last straw for some Democrats. Many are calling for new leadership.

Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela from Texas told Politico that you’d have to be an idiot to think that Democrats could win with the current Democratic leader in the House. Vela said that Nancy isn’t the only reason that Jon lost, but she is one of the reasons. Meanwhile, Democrat Joe Cunningham from South Carolina tweeted a campaign promise that he wouldn’t vote for Pelosi to lead the Democrats in the House. Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice from New York told CNN that it’s time for the Democrats to let her and the entire Democratic leadership team go.

The icing on the cake though came when Donald Trump tweeted that he hopes that the Democrats keep “Nancy P” because if the Democrats oust her from her leadership position, it would be “very bad for the Republican Party.” Plus, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told Fox on Thursday that he also hopes that the Democrats keep Pelosi because the Republicans already know how to win elections against a Pelosi-run party.

In 2009, Pelosi was Speaker of the House leading a 255-seat majority. By the next election, Democrats lost seats left and right, falling to 193 seats. Over the course of three elections, the Democrats only managed to net one extra seat. Fox News reported that a source close to the House Minority Leader said that the criticism of her does bother her because it’s coming from all sides.

While there are plenty of news reports highlighting how many people are calling for the House Minority Leader to step aside, few are also reporting that California’s 12th District has another option.

Lifelong Democrat, San Francisco employment attorney and former Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign volunteer Stephen R. Jaffe will be running against Pelosi in the Democratic primary. Jaffe supports Medicare-for-All, one big issue that Pelosi has come under fire over by her constituents.

.@nancyPelosi Medicare is already guaranteed for our seniors. Let's expand Medicare for all citizens and residents?#PelosiPressConference

— Stephen R. Jaffe (@Jaffe4Cali) June 22, 2017

Pelosi reportedly loves the idea of single-payer health care, but she still discounted Bernie Sanders’ mention of it during his bid for the presidency.

“He’s talking about a single-payer, and that’s not going to happen. I mean, does anybody in this room think that we’re going to be discussing a single-payer?” Pelosi questioned, according to the Hill. “I’ve been for single-payer for 30 years, and it is a very popular idea in our country. But we have made a decision about where we’re going on healthcare.”

Michigan’s Rep. John Conyers’ Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, has 112 co-sponsors in the House, but Pelosi is not among those co-sponsors.

In December, Pelosi stated that she doesn’t think Democratic voters actually want a new direction, but now even Democratic lawmakers are starting to disagree with her. With Jaffe addressing issues like single-payer healthcare and President Trump tweeting that he hopes the Democrats keep her, Pelosi’s next primary competition could end up being her most challenging election yet.

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[Featured Image by Andrew Harnik/AP Images]