Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, “didn’t end that day,” referencing the brutal attack on her husband two years ago.
In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” on the eve of the four-year anniversary of the Capitol riot, Pelosi said she is glad additional security measures have been put in place to safeguard the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers prepare to vote to certify Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory on Monday.
“I’m hoping that this will be very peaceful,” she said.
Looking back on Jan. 6, 2021, Pelosi suggested that Trump’s rhetoric against his political opponents, including herself, has had devastating effects that extend way beyond that single day, referencing the attack of her husband, Paul Pelosi, in October 2022 at the couple’s San Francisco home.
“Now it didn’t end that day,” she said of the Capitol riot. “As you know, he called out to these people to continue their violence, my husband being a victim of all of that, and he still has injuries from that attack. So it just goes on and on. It isn’t something that happens and then it’s over. No, once you are attacked, you have consequences that continue.”
During his federal trial, the intruder, David DePape, admitted he had plans to kidnap and interrogate Nancy Pelosi, noting that he was inspired by far-right influencers. Instead, on the night of the assault, DePape found only Paul Pelosi, who was home alone.
DePape was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison over the assault and received a life sentence without the possibility of parole on state charges.
Meanwhile, Trump has pledged to issue pardons for some of the Jan. 6 rioters within minutes of taking office later this month.
“It’s really a strange person who’s going to be president of the United States, who thinks that it’s OK to pardon people who are engaged in an attack,” Pelosi told CBS’s Margaret Brennan.
Trump comfortably won election again in November, despite his role in the insurrection. Pelosi offered her own explanation of why Trump prevailed.
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“I wouldn’t say that the American people disregarded this,” Pelosi said. “They just had a different view as to what was in their interest, economically and the rest.”
“I don’t call this a disregard of Jan. 6. I just call it something that they saw in their interest economically,” she continued.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that Pelosi was responsible for the events that unfolded on that day despite the fact that rioters looked for her.