House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's quick visit to Taiwan would have been "much more symbolic" if she had taken some Republicans along in her delegation and tour of Asia, Rep. Claudia Tenney said on Newsmax Wednesday.
"We would have had this great show of support for Taiwan," the New York Republican, who visited Taiwan in 2018 with then-House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "We had a great meeting with them, and we showed our support as well."
But Tenney said that Pelosi is "looking to be a lame duck speaker" and is "on her way out," so her trip may have been taken against President Joe Biden's wishes as a way to separate Democrats from him and his low poll numbers.
"Biden has given mixed signals indicating that he didn't want Pelosi to go but he also has indicated his support for a One China policy, which is against Taiwan independence," said Tenney. "I hate to get into the brain of Nancy Pelosi, but maybe this is to separate Democrats from what Joe Biden is doing."
Pelosi, she continued, is the "most authoritarian abuser of power in Congress," and by traveling to Taiwan, she was standing up agains the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party.
"Maybe there is a more cynical calculus in this," said Tenney. "She's a lame duck, and she's trying to bolster support for her Democratic colleagues."
Further, if Pelosi had taken any of the GOP's leadership with her to Asia, they would have made it "look bad" for her, the congresswoman said.
Pelosi was also likely "taking a political calculus" with her trip, said Tenney.
"Nancy Pelosi is a 100% political animal," she said. "She is not doing this for some great support of America."
Meanwhile, Biden did not publicly condemn the threats that had been made by China over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, and Tenney agreed with show host Rob Finnerty that may be because of his son Hunter's connections with China and the potential that the president could be compromised with the Asian rival.
"Certainly everyone is speculating on that," said Tenney. "He is the most compromised president in American history when it comes to China and Hunter Biden.
"We're not even investigating all that's going on. Imagine when they actually start to investigate, and when we take over the House; we'll certainly do that. That is an absolutely good theory. I agree 100%."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.