Pelosi says she doesn't regret threatening to punch Trump
By Annie Grayer and Aaron Pellish, CNNUpdated: Tue, 18 Oct 2022 21:17:47 GMTSource: CNNHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she does not regret threatening to punch then-President Donald Trump
By Annie Grayer and Aaron Pellish, CNNUpdated: Tue, 18 Oct 2022 21:17:47 GMT
Source: CNN
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she does not regret threatening to punch then-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, if he came to the Capitol, but "he wouldn't have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk."
"That's right," Pelosi told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell when asked to address her comments about Trump on January 6. "I would have punched him out. I said I would have punched him out. I would have gone to jail. And I would have been happy to do so."
When Mitchell followed up to ask if she would have punched Trump, Pelosi said: "He wouldn't have had the courage to come to the Hill. He is all talk."
Last week, CNN revealed previously unseen documentary footage of Pelosi captured by her daughter on January 6 showing the speaker reacting to her staff sharing reports that Trump was trying to come to the Capitol.
"If he comes, I'm going to punch him out. I've been waiting for this. For trespassing on the Capitol grounds, I'm going to punch him out. And I'm going to go to jail, and I'm going to be happy," Pelosi said in the footage.
When asked if she would a support a criminal referral of Trump if he refuses to comply with the committee's subpoena, Pelosi said, "That's going to be up to the committee. Again, I keep my distance."
In the footage that aired on CNN last week, Pelosi's chief of staff notifies her that the Secret Service "dissuaded (Trump) from coming to Capitol Hill." It's unclear how the aide learned this. But the footage backs up the testimony of Trump White House official Cassidy Hutchinson, who told the January 6 committee about Trump's attempts to force his security detail to take him to the Capitol, but they overruled him.
The footage was captured by Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker and daughter of the Democratic speaker of the House. Alexandra Pelosi has released documentaries on HBO for decades. CNN and HBO are both owned by the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Nancy Pelosi was also asked in the Tuesday interview with MSNBC to address members of her own party who are calling for a new generation of Democratic leadership as they campaign ahead of the November midterms.
"I say, just win baby. Just win. If that's what you have to say to win, fine. And we will not, in any way, do anything but totally supportive, mobilization-wise, message-wise, money-wise, for those people to win their races," she said.
"Yes, we need generational change, of course we do. But, in some cases, there's no substitute for experience" Pelosi added.
