Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., angrily told a reporter to "shut up" after being asked why she refused to deploy the National Guard before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Pelosi was confronted by LindellTV reporter Alison Steinberg outside the Capitol on Wednesday.
"When our reporter pressed @SpeakerPelosi on why she refused National Guard support on January 6th, she lost it - pointing in her face, yelling ‘Shut up,' and accusing her of pushing "Republican talking points," LindellTV posted on X with video of the incident.
"No answer. Just insults. This is how the democratic so called Speaker of 'the people' treats the press when they don't fall in line. @SpeakerPelosi's meltdown says everything."
The video showed Steinberg asking Pelosi, "Are you at all concerned about the new January 6 committee finding you liable for that day? Why did you refuse the National Guard on January 6?"
Pelosi then stops, turns toward the reporter, and responds sharply: "Shut up. 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?"
As of midday Thursday, the LindellTV post had been viewed more than 1.7 million times. Conservative commentators such as Benny Johnson and Eric Daugherty shared the post, accounting for millions more views.
President Donald Trump has accused Pelosi and other Democrats of lying about Jan. 6-related events.
"[Subcommittee on Oversight] Chairman Barry Loudermilk, [R-Ga.] exposed that the Deep State DISRESPECTFULLY DISREGARDED my authorization of at least 10,000 National Guard troops to keep D.C. safe and secure on that day," Trump wrote in an October 2024 post on Truth Social.
Loudermilk last month was named to lead a new Jan. 6 congressional investigative subcommittee. The panel's final report is supposed to be issued by the end of December 2026.
In August, former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund blasted Pelosi for what he called her dishonesty about blocking approval of the deployment of the National Guard to quell the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
Sund used an X post to take umbrage with Pelosi's missive about Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Washington with her claim that he "delayed deploying" the Guard on and before Jan. 6. He told the former speaker, "On January 3, I requested National Guard assistance, but your Sergeant at Arms denied it."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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