MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes blasted House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., this week for using her influence in Congress to ensure that Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., beat out Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., from the top spot on the House Oversight Committee.
Hayes used the example to criticize the older members of Congress for clinging to power instead of allowing the younger Democratic "stars" in government in more important roles.
"But now Pelosi whipped votes to make sure that Connolly got the Oversight job over the young star in the party, even as the 84-year-old Pelosi is recovering from hip surgery after suffering a fall. It feels like a moment of genuine madness," Hayes said, referencing the recent accident and hospitalization Pelosi suffered while traveling abroad for work.
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Hayes attempted to be sensitive about the age issue for older members of Congress but insisted that continuing their massive government roles while getting older is "very risky."
"And look, no one wants to think about their own mortality. I sure as heck don’t. There are lots of people who live very long, active lives well into their eighties, nineties. Even John Paul Stevens lived years after he retired from the court at the age of 90. But as a general matter, this is a very risky undertaking for everyone."
"And Democrats are not taking this issue seriously, despite everything that’s happened. But they need to," Hayes declared, referring to how the advanced ages of both the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and President Biden have resulted in political losses for the Democratic Party.
Moving on, he blasted another elderly Democratic senator considering running for office again and advocated for term limits.
"Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire just said she’s undecided if she will run for another six-year term in 2026, when she will be 79-years-old. And again, this is nothing against Senator Shaheen personally, but according to Pew polling, 79% of Americans support age limits for politicians in Washington."
Marveling at this poll, he added, "That is a striking, overwhelming number in today’s polarized environment. Seventy-nine percent of Americans don’t agree on anything. But they agree on this. And Democrats should listen."
His MSNBC colleague, network host Joy Reid, made the same point during Tuesday’s episode of MSNBC’s "The ReidOut," calling out the "gerontocracy," for keeping D.C. stuck in older ways instead of allowing young "stars" like AOC to take more responsibility.
"[The] gerontocracy seems like it’s intractable," Reid said. "I recall when Barack Obama was elected, he kind of pushed aside the DNC and created his own organization because I think there is a frustration with the sort of creaky way the DNC operates."
