Pelosi Has Harsh Words For Trump On 60 Minutes After The Capitol Violence
If there were any doubts about how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi views President Donald Trump after the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, they were put to rest on Sunday night, when a pre-taped interview with veteran reporter Lesley Stahl ran on 60 Minutes. In the interview, Pelosi said: "Sadly, the person who's running the executive branch is a deranged, unhinged, dangerous president of the United States. And we're only a number of days until we can be protected from him. But he has done something so serious that there should be prosecution against him." She also said, "Nothing is off the table," in response to Stahl's question about invoking the 25th amendment.
Pelosi had not only been responding to the Capitol unrest, which resulted in the deaths of at least five people. Stahl had also asked her to addressed other problems which had cropped up, including the pandemic and the Russian hack involving several U.S. government networks, which is seen to pose a risk to government at all levels across the country (via NPR).
Pelosi: "A terrible violation of the Capitol"
The House Speaker led Stahl and 60 Minutes viewers in a walking tour, where some of the mob violence had taken place. Pelosi said: "When the protesters were making the assault on the Capitol, before they even got to these doors [of the House Chamber], the Capitol police pulled me from the podium. And I was concerned, because I said, 'No I want to be here.' And they said, 'Well, no you have to leave.' And I said, 'No, I'm not leaving.' They said, 'No, you must leave.'"
Even as she showed a broken door, a broken mirror, and the room where terrified staffers had been hiding as rioters went on a rampage, she noted: "This door, they broke down. The staff went under the table, barricaded the door, turned off the lights, and were silent in the dark for two and half hours. You see what they did to the mirror there. The glass is all over the place. The desk they were at was there ... that they defamed in that way."
As a shocked Stahl surveyed the scene, Pelosi said: "I think it was universally accepted that what happened was a terrible, terrible violation of the Capitol, of the first branch of the government, the legislative branch by the President of the United States."
Pelosi: Rioters were "a well-planned, organized group"
Pelosi confirmed that the riot was not a random event, but a pre-meditated attack on the legislative branch of government. "The evidence is now that — that it was a well-planned, organized group with leadership and guidance and direction. And the direction was to go get people. They were vocally saying, "Where's the speaker? We know she has staff. They're here someplace. We're gonna find them," Pelosi told 60 Minutes.
She also shared what it took for lawmakers to return to the chambers to continue the task that, until this year, was a ceremonial one. "I know from Chuck Schumer and from Mitch McConnell, there was consensus that we should come back. There was some suggestions that it may take too long, and we should do it at the undisclosed location. But there was general belief that it — from the message of strength that we needed to send, we had to go back to the Capitol as soon as possible," she said.