House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that she would “punch [then-President Trump] out” if he came to the Capitol after his rally at the Ellipse.
CNN aired footage taken by filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, the Speaker’s daughter, on “Anderson Cooper 360” on Thursday, showing how multiple congressional leaders reacted to the day’s events.
Footage showed Pelosi remarking to her staff as Trump spoke at the Ellipse rally, which preceded the Capitol riot, that Trump should not come to the Capitol as Congress prepared to certify President Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
“If he comes, I’m gonna punch him out,” Pelosi said. “I’ve been waiting for this, for trespassing on the Capitol grounds. I’m gonna punch him out, and I’m gonna go to jail and I’m gonna be happy.”
The House select committee investigating the attack released some clips of the footage at its hearing on Thursday, but CNN aired a more expansive version of the recording.
At one point, a staff member tells Pelosi that the Secret Service told Trump that they do not have the resources to protect him at the Capitol, so he seemed to not be coming.
“Tell him if he comes here, we’re going to the White House,” Pelosi said after Trump told the attendees of his rally to walk to the Capitol and that he would join them.