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WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared to make an unfortunate gaffe Tuesday when she said after her controversial trip to Taiwan that communist-controlled China is “one of the freest societies in the world.”
During an August 9 interview with NBC’s TODAY Show, Pelosi responded to criticism about her recent official stop in Taiwan, a visit that led to intense Chinese military drills around the island as the Communist government flexed its power.
RELATED: 81-yr-old Nancy Pelosi confirms re-election bid as Dems brace for challenging 2022 midterms
“We still support the One China policy. We go there to acknowledge the status quo is what our policy is,” Pelosi told NBC, referencing ongoing U.S. policy that bows to Beijing’s assertion that Taiwan is a part of China and not an independent nation, despite its efforts to establish democratic governance.
“There was nothing disruptive about that. It was only about saying China is one of the freest societies in the world,” Pelosi said, citing Freedom House, which rates China as a 9/100 on its freedom scale while awarding a 94/100 to Taiwan.
“It’s a strong democracy; courageous people,” the House Speaker continued, seemingly intending to describe Taiwan rather than China.
Nancy Pelosi: “China is one of the freest societies in the world”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 9, 2022
Pelosi’s apparent mistake following the already controversial trip drew widespread backlash among conservative figures, as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out the “targeted military operations” it had promised in response to Pelosi’s visit.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted Tuesday that if “Pelosi thinks that the Communist Dictatorship in China is ‘one of the freest societies in the world,’” it “may explain why the Democrats are now emulating the same authoritarian tactics here at home, that the Chinese Communist Party uses against their political opposition!”
Pelosi thinks that the Communist Dictatorship in China is “one of the freest societies in the world,” which may explain why the Democrats are now emulating the same authoritarian tactics here at home, that the Chinese Communist Party uses against their political opposition! https://t.co/x30ebv5eaf
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 9, 2022
If Pelosi’s comments regarding the freedom of China under communist dictatorship were to be taken at face value, they would flatly contradict the tone of an op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post about her trip to Taiwan.
In the piece, Pelosi wrote that “Beijing is squeezing Taiwan economically, pressuring global corporations to cut ties with the island, intimidating countries that cooperate with Taiwan, and clamping down on tourism from the PRC [People’s Republic of China].”
Pelosi’s apparent gaffe is one of a bevy of embarrassing mistakes in a presidential administration that seems particularly prone to unfortunate blunders.
Last month, just after landing in Israel where he planned to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, President Joe Biden accidentally said it was important “to keep alive the truth and honor of the Holocaust,” before correcting himself to say the “horror of the Holocaust.”
Earlier the same month, speaking about the 10-year-old girl who reportedly traveled out of state for an abortion after being raped by an illegal immigrant, Biden said the girl had to “seek to terminate the presidency and maybe save her life.”
READ: Biden shows gaffe-ability again, saying 10-year-old was forced to ‘terminate the presidency’
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a propensity to deliver garbled and confusing remarks when questioned about the administration’s policies, has also been slammed for her embarrassing “word salads.”
Even the White House Press Secretary has had her fair share of verbal snafus. In June, Karine Jean-Pierre misspoke in response to a question about the administration’s plans to deal with inflation, accidentally saying that Biden would help “elevate” gas prices — before correcting herself to say “alleviate.”