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Nancy Pelosi says Republican Party has been ‘hijacked by a cult’

House Speaker tells GOP, ‘take back your party’

Helen Elfer
Saturday 18 September 2021 10:38 EDT
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged Republicans to “take back their party” from a “cult” of allegiance to former President Donald Trump.

Ms Pelosi made the comments to an audience of students at Cambridge University in the UK on Thursday,Newsweek reported.

She said: “I say to my Republican friends – and I do have some – take back your party, you’re the grand old party of America, you’ve done wonderful things for our country. You’re now being hijacked by a cult that is just not good for our country.”

The House Speaker covered a wide range of topics in her speech, which she delivered in the university union’s historic debating chamber.

She said that many Republicans are disregarding the widespread support in the country for gun-control policies such as background checks for buyers, and for women's right to choose safe and legal abortion. She also said that those trying to limit voting access don’t respect the diversity of the US.

Ms Pelosi said: “Take back your party, don’t let it be dominated by those who want to suppress the vote because they have no positive message to win, they want to suppress the vote and that’s how they would win.”

She added: “Take back your party so it’s more of a reflection of Republicans in the country than allegiance to the former president and one of the ways we can help improve that situation would be to pass H01, which would have redistricting in a way, that is again agnostic, along the lines of a voting rights act. It may not benefit Democrats, but it may benefit the country because it would make Republican districts more open to people other than the ones that are in Congress now."

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