Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raged at a LindellTV reporter on Wednesday who asked if she is concerned about being found liable for not deploying the National Guard on Jan. 6, 2021.
President Donald Trump previously asserted that Pelosi turned down his offer to deploy 10,000 troops to the Capitol ahead of the Stop the Steal rally. Outside of the Capitol, Pelosi turned around and pointed a finger in the reporter’s face in response to a question on whether the newly formed January 6 subcommittee would find her liable for allegedly refusing the National Guard’s presence at the Capitol that day.
“Congresswoman Pelosi, are you at all concerned that the January 6 Select Committee will find you liable for that day? Are you at all concerned about the January 6 Committee finding you liable for that day? Why did you refuse the National Guard on January 6?” the reporter asked.
“Shut up!” Pelosi snapped. “I did not refuse the National Guard, the president didn’t send it. Why are you coming here with Republican talking points as if you’re a serious journalist?”
Pelosi then walked away without answering the reporter’s question.
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In footage released by HBO in June 2024, Pelosi claimed responsibility for the lack of police preparedness ahead of the Capitol riot. She expressed frustration over what appeared to feel like a late request for the National Guard troops to handle the situation.
“You’re gonna ask me in the middle of the thing, when they’ve already breached the inaugural stuff, ‘should we call the Capitol Police?’ I mean the National Guard. Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?” Pelosi said.
A Republican report from 2022 stated that congressional leaders, including Pelosi, chose not to deploy the National Guard before the riot over her concern about “optics” amid the Black Lives Matter riots and the Defund the Police movement. Former Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving stated that Pelosi ordered that National Guard troops remain off of Capitol grounds to avoid bad optics, three sources familiar with the matter told the Daily Caller in February 2021.
After the riot began, Pelosi reportedly approved Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund’s request for the National Guard around 1:43 p.m., according to The New York Times. Sund said he sent a request for help from the National Guard to Irving around 1:09 p.m. The request was formally approved around 2:10 p.m. and troops arrived around 5:40 p.m.
