House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) softly jabbed a reporter and the Sinclair Broadcasting Group on Thursday evening after a Sinclair reporter’s question about Pelosi hating President Trump got her heated earlier in the day.
During a CNN Town Hall, Jake Tapper asked Pelosi about the exchange — in which Sinclair journalist James Rosen riled Pelosi when he asked if her motivation for impeachment was centered on a hatred for Trump — and Pelosi responded by questioning whether Rosen was a “reporter.”
“Was that a reporter? Is that what reporters do?” she asked Tapper, which received laughs from the audience.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Tapper said, “it was a reporter from Sinclair News.”
“Ya, Sinclair is that a news source?” Pelosi asked, before calling the word “hate” “really disgusting.”
“I’d rather like to think that America is a country that is full of love, whatever we think about what somebody else might believe that might be different from us, that that isn’t a reason to dislike somebody. It’s a reason to disagree with somebody,” she said.
While Sinclair did not return TPM’s requests for comment, a spokesperson for the broadcasting group told CNN that Rosen meant “no disrespect” by the question.
“We have reviewed the incident and based on the video, this was clearly not meant to be an inflammatory question and, further, this gave Speaker Pelosi the opportunity to clarify her own views, something that only strengthens positive dialogue,” Sinclair spokesperson Ronn Torossian told CNN. “Again, both Sinclair and James Rosen respect Speaker Pelosi and hope we can continue the dialogue.”
Rosen responded to TPM’s request for comment by pointing to the statement Torossian gave to CNN.
Pelosi mocks Sinclair: Is that a news site? pic.twitter.com/ZJHcU0VzN8
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 6, 2019
