For years, rumors have swirled around California Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s mental well-being. Critics have claimed the longtime House Minority Leader isn’t well — and some have pointed to a recent late-night talk show interview as proof.
In an interview with comedian James Cordon on CBS’ “The Late Late Show,” Pelosi was presented with photos of political rivals and asked to deviate off her normal talking points.
When shown a picture of Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ted Cruz by the interviewer, Pelosi froze and grinned absentmindedly. She struggled to come up with a single nice thing to say.
But the real eye-opening moment came when the California liberal was shown a picture of President Donald Trump.
Pelosis stammering attempt to describe someone on the fly went into full meltdown when Pelosi was asked a simple question about the president: What is something good about Trump?
“Uh… flag pin!” Pelosi shouts, pointing out that Trump was wearing a flag pin in his picture. The interviewer then pressed for a real answer as the audience filled the silence with canned laughter.
For over 15 seconds, Pelosi sat in silence and struggled to come up with an answer.
“Is there one nice thing you can say about Donald Trump?” Cordon asks again.
Pelosi stared and giggled to herself and began to breath heavily, and let another ten seconds of awkward silence fill the room before telling herself, “I hope so… I hope I can.”
“But not today?” Cordon pressed.
Another five seconds of silence passed before Pelosi gave a nondescript, one-word answer: “President! He’s president.”
Befuddled, the establishment politician then looked to Cordon for the answer, asking “What would you say?”
Producers on the show superimposed a laughing audience over the incredibly awkward pauses, but imagine if there was no laughter as Pelosi struggled with a basic improvisational moment?
When she sees a picture of the leader of the free world… A tall, self-made billionaire that is beloved by millions of American voters… Pelosi stares in silence for 15 awkward seconds before stammering out, “President!” and then asks for help from a talk show host?
After 30 agonizing seconds, Pelosi finally manages to answer (with help) that Trump is a nice, respectful gentlemen. 30 seconds to answer a simple question that’s not written down ahead of time.
This is the person trusted to make legislative decisions to protect the future of our children and grandchildren?
Senior moments happen. But when they’re happening with regularity, critics begin to point out it is a disturbing pattern — one that could hint at more serious mental health issues.
Do you agree with critics that Nancy Pelosi is mentally unfit? Or are conservative voters making a mountain out of a molehill?
Watch just 15 seconds of the video below and decide for yourself —
— The Horn editorial team