Unseen January 6 Footage Reveals Nancy Pelosi Branding Donald Trump a ‘Domestic Enemy’

Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump have been involved in a political clash for a long time. Their feud has seen both of them criticizing each other repeatedly. Now, it was revealed that just hours after Trump supporters violently breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, attacking police officers in a bid to confront Congress members, Nancy Pelosi—then-House Speaker—referred to Trump as "a domestic enemy." These remarks were captured in a video clip shot by Alexandra Pelosi, Nancy's daughter.

The footage reveals that Nancy was aware of the gravity of the situation during the evacuation process. She informed her staff and security to be ready for the worst-case scenario. She could be heard saying, “If they stopped the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the president of the United States." She continued, “If they stopped the proceedings, we would have totally failed. And we’ve got to take some responsibility for not holding the security accountable for what could have happened. We have got to finish the proceedings.” Talking about Trump, Nancy said, “I just feel sick what he did to the Capitol and to the country today. He’s got to pay a price for that.”

As reported by HuffPost, another clip, filmed later that day, features her saying, “We’ve taken an oath to protect our country from all enemies foreign and domestic. There’s a domestic enemy in the White House. And let’s not mince words about this.” The video also captures Nancy taking responsibility for some of the day’s shortcomings. She said, “Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with? I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more. It’s stupid that we should be in a situation like this.”

Several Republicans have tried to blame Nancy for the security lapses on Jan 6. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Georgia Republican leading the GOP's investigation into January 6, commented on Nancy’s role as Speaker. He said, "For over three years, Nancy Pelosi has refused to take responsibility for her failure to secure the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021. Instead, she has pushed the focus of the failure on President Trump." In another video, Nancy said, "We have responsibility. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there and we should have. This is ridiculous," as reported by CBS News.

Meanwhile, at the recent 2024 Democratic National Convention, Nancy took the stage to warn everyone about Trump. As reported by The Hill, she said, “Jan. 6 was a perilous moment for our democracy. Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office. Let us not forget who assaulted our democracy on Jan. 6. He did!” She also praised President Joe Biden for enacting some of the most impactful legislation in recent decades.