Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez on Friday dodged repeated questions about whether he would support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) for speaker if Democrats take control of the House in November.
Perez appeared at the Texas Tribune festival in Austin, Texas, where he repeatedly dodged questions from Reid Epstein, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and moderator of the event.
"The chairman of the Democratic National Committee is not endorsing the House majority leader to be speaker of the House?" Epstein asked.
Perez dodged the question and said it will be up to the new House majority, prompting Epstein to say Perez has made endorsements in races before, specifically referencing his endorsement of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) back in May when the governor faced a primary challenge from his left.
"You’re not prepared to endorse Nancy Pelosi as speaker?" Epstein asked.
"I am so appreciative of Nancy Pelosi and what she has done for the Democratic Party," Perez said. "Her effectiveness as a leader is why we have so many elements of our social compact. So I don’t have a vote in that race."
Epstein followed up by noting Perez also didn't have a vote in the New York race.
"Well, and I haven’t endorsed in any other race, OK? And I have a longtime friendship with Kathy Hochul and others in New York," Perez said. "And so this is a race that is going to be up to the House Democrats in the aftermath. And I hope it will be the House majority Democrats."
Perez, who received backlash from liberals for his endorsement of Cuomo, is not the only Democrat who has dodged questions about supporting Pelosi as speaker. Several Democratic House candidates have have also dodged questions and have distanced themselves from the minority leader.