Both Republicans and Democrats have spoken out in support of Pelosi’s decision to visit Taiwan amid increasing tensions between the US and China. Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) said if he was the House Speaker, he’d “be going.”
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also a Republican, said Pelosi “cannot allow the Chinese communist dictatorship” to “bully” an “American Speaker of the House,” and suggested that Pelosi should tell the Pentagon and the State Department to “shut up” in response to their fear of Chinese military retaliation.
Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN) also expressed support, saying that if the decision was still private, he would have advised against it, but because China has now threatened the U.S., visiting would be a show of strength. Pelosi has invited Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX), who is the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to join her, but he declined the invitation citing a schedule conflict.
U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the U.S. military would protect Pelosi during her trip, but declined to elaborate on his comment, saying, “We will do what is necessary to ensure a safe conduct of their visit. And I’ll just leave it at that.”