The Hill News

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs should have kept quiet about his belief that Democrats could lose the House in 2010, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Friday.

Wasserman Schultz, a vice chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), told Fox News that Gibbs should have expressed his doubts in private instead of on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“If I were him, I certainly would have kept that opinion to myself,” she said. “And if it was something that he felt that he should say, he should have said it internally.”

Gibbs said on Sunday that there are “enough seats in play” for the Republicans to win the House. That comment prompted an angry backlash from House Democrats, some of whom believe the White House hasn’t done enough to help them retain the lower chamber in 2010.

Nevertheless, Wasserman Schultz said Democrats are “not going to lose the House.”

“We’re very confident about our members’ chances for reelection,” she said. “Tough election year, but we’ll be running on our record, and it’s a strong one.”