WATCH: Nancy Pelosi clarifies Bill Maher on claim that she took onus of security amid Jan 6 Capitol riots
WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Nancy Pelosi (D) refuted comedian Bill Maher's claim that she assumed "responsibility" for security during the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, citing remarks she made in a recently released video.
“There’s some footage of you that just came out where you’re talking about — you say, I’m quoting you, ‘I take responsibility,’” Maher said Friday, August 30, on 'Real Time with Bill Maher', while interviewing Pelosi.
'I'm Not Ever Taking Responsibility For Trump!' Pelosi Tells Bill Maher She Wasn't Taking Blame In New Jan. 6 Videos https://t.co/LJYvJK56ur via @mediaite pic.twitter.com/wnMdomwjeR
— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 31, 2024
Bill Maher asks Nancy Pelosi on what she meant in the unveiled footage
Bill Maher questioned Nancy Pelosi about what she wanted to say in the released video, saying he thought the former Speaker was discussing "the fact that there should've been more protection there."
“First of all, who could’ve ever thought that the president of the United States would incite an insurrection …” Pelosi said, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite, before Maher interjected, per The Hill.
“Me,” the host replied. “I was saying it for years.” She responded, “I’m not ever taking responsibility for [former President] Donald Trump.”
Nancy Pelosi wants to make sure Donald Trump is not reelected
In the interview, Nancy Pelosi declared that her sole responsibility concerning Donald Trump is to ensure he is not reelected to the White House. The discussion follows the discovery of video in which Pelosi was heard inquiring about the National Guard's arrival in the Capitol, which took hours to react to.
“How many times did the members ask, ‘Are we prepared? Are we prepared?’ We’re not prepared for the worst,” Pelosi said in the footage. “We’re calling the National Guard, now? It should’ve been here to start out. I just don’t understand it.”
“Why do we empower people this way by not being ready?” she added in the footage.
Nancy Pelosi questions why National Guard didn’t respond earlier to the Jan 6 attack
Nancy Pelosi said she felt somewhat "responsible" for the lack of preparation and questioned why the National Guard hadn't reacted to the attack on January 6 sooner.
“I feel responsible,” Pelosi said to her chief of staff Terri McCullough. “We have a responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there, and we should have. This is ridiculous.”
“I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more. Because it’s stupid,” she added later.
"I just feel sick."
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 29, 2024
Never-before-seen documentary footage shows then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 6 and reacting to the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol riot.
In these excerpts of the footage, which was turned over to Congress by HBO and obtained by CBS News, Pelosi is seen… pic.twitter.com/hQzXXU57u8
Bill Maher asks Nancy Pelosi about the fear that comes with her job
Bill Maher also questioned the Speaker emerita about the anxiety associated with her work, the insurrection, her feelings following her husband Paul Pelosi's attack in their home, and what she wrote about in her most recent book, 'The Art of Power'.
“Well I … let me just say I signed up for this. And as for that part of it, well, I signed up for the public arena,” she told the host.
Pelosi later said, “When you’re in the arena. You’re no longer a spectator," while quoting former president Teddy Roosevelt (R). “And I’ve said to colleagues and people interested in running when you are in that arena, you got to be ready to take a punch,” she continued, adding. “You got to be ready to throw a punch.”