The office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded after a newly elected Republican lawmaker accused the speaker of pushing her young daughter.
Rep. Mayra Flores (R-Texas), who was recently elected into Congress in a special election, claimed Pelosi nudged her daughter during a group photo.
But a spokesman for Pelosi wrote in several Twitter posts that those allegations are unfounded. Pelosi, he claimed, was instead trying to move so that her daughters wouldn’t be hidden behind her.
He posted more footage of the incident, writing: “And here’s more footage of the Speaker graciously greeting Rep. Flores’ children and telling them about the room they are in.”
Flores was elected to her seat in a special election earlier this month following Rep. Filemon Vela’s (D-Texas) departure from Congress in March, further cutting into Democrats’ thin majority in the lower chamber.
“I am so proud of my strong, beautiful daughter for not allowing this to faze her,” Flores wrote on Twitter, sharing a video of the incident involving Pelosi and her daughter.
“She continued to smile and pose for the picture like a queen,” Flores said. “No child should be pushed to the side for a photo op. PERIOD!!”
The 34th District that Flores won had traditionally been a Democratic stronghold for years. She flipped it after gaining 51 percent of the vote compared to her opponent’s 43.3 percent.
Some analysts say that Flores’s victory is another bad omen for Democrats before the 2022 midterms in November. Amid high gas prices and soaring inflation, Republicans have said it’s due to Democrats’ and President Joe Biden’s policies. Traditionally, the party of the president tends to lose congressional seats in the forthcoming midterm elections.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote that he had voted for a Republican for the first time ever in order to vote for Flores.
He wrote on Twitter earlier this month: “I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican. Massive red wave in 2022.”
