Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi: Trump Supreme Court pick 'threatens' Affordable Care Act Sunday shows preview: Lawmakers prepare for SCOTUS confirmation hearings before election Will Democrats attempt to pack the Supreme Court again? MORE (D-Calif.) on Thursday condemned President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden says voters should choose who nominates Supreme Court justice Trump, Biden will not shake hands at first debate due to COVID-19 Pelosi: Trump Supreme Court pick 'threatens' Affordable Care Act MORE's quip the night before at a rally suggesting that the late Democratic Rep. John Dingell John DingellRaces heat up for House leadership posts Democrats flubbed opportunity to capitalize on postal delays COVID-19 bill limiting liability would strike the wrong balance MORE was "looking up," presumably from hell, calling it "cruel" and "sad."



When a reporter asked Pelosi at her weekly press conference about the attack on Dingell, the Speaker paused and closed her eyes for a few seconds before answering: "Let us pray. Let us pray for the president."



"What the president misunderstands is that cruelty is not wit. Just because he gets a laugh for saying the cruel things that he says doesn't mean he's funny. It's not funny at all. It's very sad," Pelosi said.





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Trump made the comments at a rally in Michigan around the same time Wednesday night that the House was voting to impeach him. He had been talking about how Rep.(D-Mich.), John Dingell's wife who has represented his old seat since 2014, was backing impeachment.John Dingell, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, died in February at the age of 92. Trump noted that he had ordered flags to be lowered after Dingell's death."She calls me up: 'It's the nicest thing that's ever happened. Thank you so much. John would be so thrilled. He's looking down. He'd be so thrilled. Thank you so much, sir.' I said, 'That's OK, don't worry about it,'" Trump said, describing a conversation with Debbie Dingell."Maybe he's looking up, I don't know. I don't know. Maybe," Trump said, drawing some groans from the crowd. "But let's assume he's looking down."Pelosi compared the dig against Dingell to Trump's attacks on the late Sen.(R-Ariz.)."The president clearly is insecure when it comes to statespersons, whether it was John McCain — think of what he said about John McCain and his supporters just overlooked that. John McCain. Now John Dingell," Pelosi said.Debbie Dingell responded to Trump in a tweet late Wednesday night, saying that the comments were "hurtful.""My husband earned all his accolades after a lifetime of service. I’m preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love. You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder," Dingell tweeted.Other Democrats — many of whom served with the late Dingell until his retirement in 2014 — also expressed outrage over Trump's comments.Michigan Democratic Rep., who noted as he emerged from a Democratic whips' meeting Thursday morning that he "grew up knowing John since I was a kid," called Trump's comments "despicable" and a sign of a "missing heart."Some Michigan Republicans also called on Trump to apologize.“John Dingell was a well-respected man & I consider Debbie a close colleague and friend. To use his name in such a dishonorable manner at last night’s rally is unacceptable from anyone, let alone the President of the United States,” retiring Rep.(R-Mich.) tweeted . “An apology is due, Mr. President.”Another GOP lawmaker, Michigan Rep.“I’ve always looked up to John Dingell — my good friend and a great Michigan legend. There was no need to 'dis' him in a crass political way,” Upton tweeted.