Pelosi and Schumer awkwardly describe competing stimulus bills as animals 'unable to mate'
![House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SR6ZrXrrxtMhbHPjxjnF7c-415-80.jpg)
Congress' leading Democrats have provided Americans with some terrible mental imagery.
Democrats and Republicans are sparring over a coronavirus relief bill to replace the phase three CARES Act that will expire in just two days. But as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) described Tuesday, the parties' competing visions are nowhere near ready to come together.
Pelosi described the two parties' ideals as "a giraffe and a flamingo" during a Tuesday meeting with Schumer, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, an Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Politico reports. "They're both at a zoo. A dumb person may think they could mate for offspring. A smart person knows that's impossible. That's our bills. They're unable to mate."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If that metaphor wasn't clear enough, Schumer surely drove the point home with one of his own. "A golden retriever can't mate with a Chihuahua. You have a Chihuahua. We have a beautiful lion," he said, Politico reports via people in the room. "Pelosi then helpfully reminded Schumer that a lion is a cat, so, no, they could not mate," Politico writes.
Schumer did get one part of the metaphor wrong: Golden retrievers and Chihuahuas can mate. Don't think about the how and enjoy this adorable picture of the uncommon mix.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
'Democrats now have a chance to present a vigorous, compelling case'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What has Kamala Harris done as vice president?
In Depth It's not uncommon for the second-in-command to struggle to prove themselves in a role largely defined by behind-the-scenes work
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
How Black organizations quickly pivoted and mobilized for Kamala Harris
In the spotlight Harris has a shot at being the first Black woman to lead the Democratic ticket
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published