House Speaker Nancy Pelosi goaded former President Donald Trump on the airwaves Sunday, saying she doesn’t think he’ll testify for the committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“I don’t think he’s man enough to show up,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) told MSNBC’s “The Sunday Show” host Jonathan Capehart in a wide-ranging interview.
She also suggested Trump’s lawyers might not want him to show up, since he would be testifying under oath and possible penalty of perjury.
The committee formally issued a subpoena to Trump on Friday, asking him to testify after a months-long investigation and series of hearings. However, the move is largely symbolic, as the committee is unlikely to compel Trump to testify before it dissolves at the end of this year.
Should Trump refuse to testify, the public should judge him for that decision, Pelosi said.
“No one is above the law. If we believe that, then they should make a judgment about how he responds to that request,” she said.
Footage of Jan. 6, 2021, released this month showed Pelosi during the attack on the Capitol saying — twice — that she’d punch the former president if he came to the building.
“I want to punch him out. And I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy,” Pelosi said at the time, one of many instances in which she’s expressed her disdain for Trump.
The Jan. 6 select committee has maintained that Trump played a “central role” in instigating the attack on the Capitol and attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In interviews Sunday — with a midterm election looming just over two weeks away — Pelosi also addressed the economy, which recent polls have shown is a top issue for voters.
Republicans “don’t have a solution to inflation,” she said. The speaker also said she doesn’t agree with the idea that voters don’t trust Democrats with the economy.
Americans should understand the difference between inflation as a global issue and the cost of living, Pelosi said, maintaining that Biden has made strides on reducing prescription drug prices and lowering unemployment.
As Americans continue to deal with high prices, Republicans have taken back ground in recent midterm polling after Democrats saw a bump over the summer. The president’s party typically loses congressional seats in midterm elections.
Earlier, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Pelosi said she “absolutely” doesn’t regret congressional pandemic relief spending that may have contributed to inflation.
“That was necessary for people to survive. … When you reduce unemployment, it’s inflationary. That is a fact,” Pelosi said.
