Reuters
House Speaker Pelosi speaks about Trump impeachment inquiry during news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared at a CNN town hall on Thursday night and made her case for introducing articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
- She also addressed a tense moment with a reporter at a press conference earlier that day.
- "Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?" James Rosen, from the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group asked Pelosi. She responded that she didn't hate anyone and said "don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."
- At the town hall, Pelosi addressed the issue, and again cited her Catholic faith: "And so for him to say that was really disgusting to me."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared at a CNN town hall on Thursday night and made the Democrats case for introducing articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
She also addressed question from a reporter earlier that day about whether she "hates" Trump.
Pelosi announced on Thursday that she was instructing members of the House to move forward with articles of impeachment. At a corresponding press conference there was a tense moment with James Rosen from the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group.
"Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?" Rosen asked, citing GOP Rep. Doug Collins, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, saying "that the Democrats are doing this simply because they don't like the guy," at an impeachment hearing on Wednesday.
"As a Catholic, I resent your using the word 'hate' in a sentence that addresses me," she said as part of her reply. "I don't hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is a heart full of love and always pray for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time. So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."
Discussing the moment at the town hall Pelosi quipped, "Was that a reporter? Is that what reporters do?"
"The word 'to hate' a person, that just doesn't happen," she said. "The word 'hate' is a terrible word. You might reserve it for vanilla ice cream for something like that - I'm a chocoholic - but not for a person. And so for him to say that was really disgusting to me. And of course he was quoth somebody else."
In a statement released on Thursday night, a spokesperson for Sinclair Broadcasting Ronn Torossian said, "to be clear, there was no disrespect meant to the Speaker by this question."
"We do not dictate to our reporters what they can and cannot ask," Torossian continued. "James believed that the question was legitimate as these concerns have been voiced by a prominent Member of Congress. We have reviewed the incident and based on the video this was clearly not meant to be an inflammatory question and, further, this gave Speaker Pelosi the opportunity to clarify her own views, something that only strengthens positive dialogue."
- Read more:
- Nancy Pelosi says House will move forward with articles of impeachment against Trump
- Republicans are once again using massive signs to defend Trump during an impeachment hearing, this time using Democrats' own words
- Former House Speaker John Boehner cried as his portrait was unveiled in a uniting moment for Republicans and Democrats
- Nancy Pelosi invites Trump to testify in the impeachment inquiry and 'speak all the truth that he wants'
"Was that a reporter? Was that what reporters do?"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi casts shade on a member of the media whose question about hating Pres. Trump elicited a strong response from her this morning. #PelosiTownHall https://t.co/o0WqBlGMWa pic.twitter.com/pgaEJMHAtJ
- CNN (@CNN) December 6, 2019