Politics

FACT CHECK: Did Nancy Pelosi Say, ‘Employers Cutting Hours Is A Good Thing’?

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An image shared on Facebook over 500 times claims House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Employers cutting hours is a good thing. It then gives that person time to pursue their dreams and passions.”

Verdict: False

There is no record of Pelosi making the statement.

Fact Check:

Pelosi is often the target of misinformation on social media platforms. The latest example of this appears in an image being shared on Facebook that claims Pelosi once said, “Employers cutting hours is a good thing. It then gives that person time to pursue their dreams and passions.”

However, the Daily Caller News Foundation found no instances of Pelosi saying the quote attributed to her in the post. A search of her official Twitter accounts — @SpeakerPelosi and @TeamPelosi — and an archive of her deleted tweets turned up no matches. The quote also doesn’t appear on her official websites. Had the House speaker made such a remark, it would almost certainly be reported by media outlets, yet none have done so.

The claim has been circulating since at least 2016, when Caroline Behringer, a former Pelosi spokeswoman, told PolitiFact “It is something we saw spread on the internet, but has no basis in reality.”

The quote appears to be a misrepresentation of a statement Pelosi made during a 2013 interview on CNN’s “State Of The Union.” In the interview, Pelosi was asked if she was worried that the Affordable Care Act would result in employers reducing employee hours to keep the costs of providing health care to employees down.

“Overwhelmingly for the American people, this is a liberation,” she answered, in part. “This is life, healthy life, liberty, the freedom to pursue your happiness which could be, follow your passion for good rather than follow your palate and be constrained by your policy.”

The DCNF reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment and will update if a response is provided