Trump’s Violent Rhetoric ‘Has Not Ended’ After January 6, My Husband Was ‘A Victim of It All’

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, tomorrow morning at the Capitol, you and other members of Congress will be there to certify Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. There is an unprecedented level of security, in part because of what’s going on. happened four years ago with the violent attack perpetrated by his supporters to change the result of the last elections. Why do you think so many members of the American public decided this was not disqualifying when it came to re-electing him president?

PELOSI: Well, again, thank you for the opportunity to talk about it, because the denial that they had about the election, that they acted on, and the denial that they’ve had since then about what happened in January-January. 6 is just terrible. They want to revise history. And they just can’t. But I’m very happy that they have increased security and I hope it will be very peaceful because the public knows that. Now, regarding your question, I think no, I wouldn’t say that the American people have ignored that. They simply had a different vision of what was in their interest, economically and otherwise. So I don’t – I don’t call it contempt for January 6th. I just call it something they saw in their economic interest.

BRENNAN: Just last night at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump was screening a documentary about the 2020 election, claiming victory and trying to talk about the legal difficulties he had encountered. There appears to be a continued effort to claim he won in 2020.

PELOSI: It’s really sad. It’s really sad. And I don’t know about the movie he got and the rest, but it’s- it’s almost sick that he thinks that in 2020. He won the election now, it will be clear- it will be clear, and tomorrow it will clearly be – we will accept the results of the electoral college. He should therefore be triumphant. But still trying to fight a fight he knows he lost is really sad.

BRENNAN: You know, the president-elect said that within the first nine minutes of his new term, he would pardon many of those who participated in January 6th. He said he would look at the situation on a case-by-case basis. , but looking at what happened four years ago, there are recordings, video evidence of what happened. This is personal to you, some of these rioters in your office. chanting your name. One of them, one of the accused, said: “We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the brain, but we couldn’t find her.” For you, it’s personal. So when you hear about pardons, do you think non-violent abusers deserve to be pardoned?

PELOSI: The nonviolent – I think it’s a violent attacker, with the intention…

BRENNAN: – the violence itself.

PELOSI: Yeah–

BRENNAN: – Violent language, you think.

PELOSI: The violent language – yes, the intent. And of course, the intention to attack the vice president of the United States. Now this day has not ended. As you know, he called on these people to continue their violence, my husband being a victim of all this, and he still has injuries from this attack. So it goes on and on. It’s not something that happens and then it’s over. No, once you are attacked, you suffer lasting consequences. So I don’t – it’s a really strange person who is going to be president of the United States, who thinks it’s okay to pardon people who are engaged in an attack. But let’s… you know, let’s do this. Let’s just say okay to the American people. That’s what it’s about. Don’t let the 2020 election denial fool you and why would he say that? But he… but he is. And then on top of that, the denial of what happened on January 6th.

BRENNAN: But some of the 1,600 defendants here were really only charged with trespassing. And when you look at the profiles, the University of Chicago did a study, half of those who broke into the Capitol were white-collar workers. They were small business owners. He didn’t necessarily have a criminal record. When you look at this profile, you have said intention. It is the intention itself, you think, that must be considered more than the crime. You know that this presents the crime of trespassing itself in a different light for you.

PELOSI: Well, the president said he would do it on a case-by-case basis. So, I guess some of these people may not have engaged in the violent activities that others did. Look at this magnificent Capitol, the dome built by Lincoln. Under Lincoln’s leadership during the Civil War, they said, don’t build the dome. The war effort required too much steel and manpower, they said. And he said no, I have to show America’s resilience. And then under that dome, you saw, you saw flags, flags that, you know, are horrible flags under the Lincoln dome. So it was a tragedy, and we can’t deny what it was. If the president has to do it on a case-by-case basis, I hope he does, and then maybe…

BRENNAN: – Intruder, would you be comfortable with forgiveness?

PELOSI: Well, it just depends on how they define what it is. But I know that some of that encouragement and then the follow-up that so many people were threatened, including me and- and all the way back to my house, looking for me and finding my husband, and like I said, who still suffering from head injuries that day. These things don’t come and go on their own when you have a head injury. Anyway, to see the threat to so many people in elected office is beyond me now, but for so many people in elected office, it should not be a threat to your family that you have chose to do public service.