WASHINGTON Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been unshakable as she’s guided her caucus toward the decision she announced Thursday that the House will vote on articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. But when a reporter questioned whether she was doing so because she hates Trump, Pelosi exploded.
The heated exchange, occurring at the end of Pelosi’s weekly news conference, culminated in a warning from the speaker that was directed at James Rosen from the Sinclair Broadcast Group. But it is a broader indication that she is ready to brush off any attacks that come her way as the House moves to impeach Trump.
“Don’t mess with me,” Pelosi said.
Rosen had shouted the question to Pelosi about whether she hates Trump after she had ended her news conference and was walking away from the podium. The speaker stopped and answered, clearly offended.
“I don’t hate anybody,” she said. “I was raised in a Catholic house. We don’t hate anybody, not anybody in the world.
“Don’t accuse me of hate,” she added.
Rosen said he did not accuse her, he asked a question.
“You did. You did,” Pelosi shot back.
Rosen clarified that he was asking because Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins, R-Ga., had said Wednesday that Democrats are impeaching Trump because they don’t like him.
“I think it’s a fair point,” he said.
Pelosi said it has nothing to do with that and returned to the podium to address the matter further an extremely rare, if not unprecedented, move.
“As a Catholic, I resent your using the word hate in a sentence that addresses me,” she said. “I don’t hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is a heart full of love and always prayed for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time.
“So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that,” Pelosi concluded, walking away. No reporters shouted questions that time as she exited the room.
Trump took to Twitter shortly after Pelosi’s remarks, accusing her of having a “nervous fit” and saying she hates some of the things he’s accomplished as president.
Trump’s assessment of Pelosi’s blow-up with Rosen seemed designed to fit with the nickname he’s given her of “nervous Nancy,” although the speaker has not demonstrated any patterns of nervous behavior.
