House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) nearly physically dodged questions about whether she called for President Trump to go to “prison” behind closed doors last week, arguing the questions were just playing into the hands of the “diverter of attention-in-chief.”
During an interview with CNN at the 2019 Fiscal Summit, Pelosi went as far as to physically turn away from CNN reporter Manu Raju as he peppered her with questions about her reported private comments last week — “I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison” — and declared she was “done” talking about President Trump. Raju stated that Trump was “set off” by her apparent “prison” remarks when he railed against her while in Normandy last week.
“Is that how you really feel?” Raju asked.
“I don’t care what motivates him and we never know, but in front of the tombstones of our fallen and we’re at the 75th anniversary of Normandy, you be the judge as to whether you think it’s appropriate for the President to take that tact, that’s all I’m going to say,” she said. “I don’t care what you ask anymore, I’m not going to talk about him anymore.”
Raju pressed again, asking the House speaker if she actually said what’s been reported.
“When we have conversations in our caucus, they stay in our caucus. Do people think there’s some impeachable offenses the President committed? Yes. How serious are they? Are they criminal? Many people think they are,” she said, refusing to answer when asked if she thought his actions were criminal.
Pelosi dodges on "prison" remarks pic.twitter.com/CuiS28Ew3W
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) June 11, 2019
While she would not confirm the comments that set off Trump’s closest allies and inspired Trump to bestow a new moniker on the speaker, she later hinted she’s still not onboard with impeachment.
“Nothing is as divisive in our country, in my view, than impeachment,” she said.
