No ‘Public Spat’ Between White House, Pelosi Over Taiwan Visit: Kirby

White House spokesman John Kirby is denying a rift between the White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.

“I don’t believe that there was a public spat,” Kirby said during an appearance on Fox News on Aug. 2.

Pelosi intended to visit Taiwan earlier this year but canceled the trip due to testing positive for COVID-19.

As rumors flew that she was going to Taiwan during the rescheduled trip, President Joe Biden told reporters that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now.”

But Kirby said later that the speaker of the House “has the right to visit Taiwan.”

“We’ve been nothing but consistent here at the White House that we respect her decision to go. This is her decision that we provided her obviously support context analysis that she needed to make her decision,” Kirby said on Fox.

He said the White House did not try to talk Pelosi out of going.

(L-R) U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) poses for photographs with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, at the president’s office in Taipei, Taiwan, on Aug. 3, 2022. (Handout/Getty Images) Pelosi Lands in Taiwan

Pelosi ended up landing in Taiwan, which was not on her original itinerary, on Aug. 2. The visit highlighted America’s commitment to supporting the country’s democracy, which has been self-ruled for decades but is viewed by the Chinese Communist Party as part of China, according to Pelosi.

While in Taiwan, Pelosi met with President Tsai Ing-wen, visited the National Human Rights Museum, and convened with top lawmaker Tsai Chi-chang.

Lawmakers from both parties praised the speaker for going through with the trip.

“We can’t let China tell us where to go and what to do. So the idea of Speaker Pelosi going to visit Taiwan is a good

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