"I don't hate anybody," Speaker Pelosi responds to a reporter
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responds forcefully to a question from a reporter who asked if she hated President Donald Trump. Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stopped in her tracks as she left the podium at news conference about articles of impeachment when a reporter asked: “Do you hate the president, Madame Speaker?”
Pelosi pointed a finger at the questioner in the front row, Sinclair Broadcast Group reporter James Rosen, and said in a hoarse voice, “I don’t hate anybody.”
She added, “Don’t you accuse me.” Rosen responded, “I did not accuse you.” She said, “You just did.” He said, “I asked a question.”
Rosen said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the House Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, “yesterday suggested that the Democrats are doing this simply because they don't like the guy.”
Pelosi marched back to the dais.
She accused President Donald Trump of being a “coward” on passing gun control measures, helping Dreamers and addressing the climate crisis.
“That’s about the election,” she said. “This is about the Constitution of the United States and the facts that leads to the president's violation of his oath of office.”
Then she returned to Rosen’s question.
“And, as a Catholic, I resent your using the word ‘hate’ in a sentence that addresses me. I don’t hate anyone. I was raised in a way that is … a heart full of love and always pray for the president.”
Before walking off again, Pelosi said, “So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that.”
