Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a problem with the group of representatives working with President Donald Trump on immigration reform.
“The five white guys I call them, you know,” Pelosi said Thursday in reference to the group, which includes Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
“Are they going to open a hamburger stand next or what?” Pelosi said, joking about the chain Five Guys.
The group has been meeting with Trump in an attempt to save Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which Trump ended last year.
Pelosi’s comment was more than just a quip. The lack of involvement in these talks from nonwhite members of Congress delays the deal, she said, since any DACA agreement will require approval from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other groups.
“The sensitivity even on the wording is really important [and] for people who are engaged in these issues to be there at the table. They’ve been working on it in a bipartisan way for a long time,” she said.
The DACA deal is more threatened by Trump’s comments than Pelosi’s. Trump rejected a bipartisan deal by saying that he didn’t want immigrants from “shithole countries” like Haiti and countries in Africa.
Yet, Pelosi’s peers are offended by her “five white guys” comment too.
“That comment is offensive. I am committed to ensuring DREAMers are protected and I will welcome everyone to the table who wants to get this done,” Hoyer told Politico.