Former House Speaker and current Democratic Rep. from California Nancy Pelosi said over the weekend that the U.S. Constitution was optional for states — and her rambling interview jumped so all over the place, it left one viewer calling for term limits.
During an interview where Pelosi was “barely coherent,” she told ABC News that states have the right to ignore the law if they want to ban former President Donald Trump from their election ballots.
“He incited an insurrection,” she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos during an appearance on “This Week” Saturday.
She continued —
I’m proud of the national anthem. And in it, it says ‘proof through the night that our flag was still there.’ We have to prove through this campaign in the night that our flag is still there with liberty and justice for all and not have an acceptance of Confederate flags under [the] Lincoln dome [at the Capitol] with a president sitting in the White House doing nothing to stop the violence. He talks about the big steal as he can engages in the big lie.
“If you believe he engaged in insurrection under the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment, you believe he’s ineligible to be president?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“Those are up to the states,” Pelosi mumbled back. “They have different laws from state to state. I don’t think he should ever have been president.”
“But nonetheless…” she said before Stephonopolous interrupted and said she was making a Constitutional argument.
“Uh, there’s a view of the Constitution, Article 14, Section 3, that says he should not be able to run for president,” she claimed, before suddenly backpedaling over whether she was making a Constitutional argument. Pelosi said it’s a states’ rights issue.
“But that’s not the point!” she claimed. “The point is now… again… different states have different laws. We don’t think in California that it applied, um, in our state… that’s where the decision was made here.”
Pelosi was referring to the fact that even in deep blue California, the courts have ruled in Trump’s favor. She then said it’s all too complicated for the average voter to understand and then pivoted to a strange soundbite about the Constitution.
“But anyways, that’s very intricate,” she said. “What is very clear is that the American people want us to honor our oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Take a look —
ABC: "You believe [Trump] is ineligible to be president?"
NANCY PELOSI: "They have different laws from state-to-state."
ABC: "It's the Constitution…"
NANCY PELOSI: "That's not the point." pic.twitter.com/2lPZc1q6A0
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 7, 2024
The Horn editorial team