House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi isn’t overly concerned about her safety in the wake of several reports of bombs sent to President Trump’s biggest critics because she’s “been a target for a very long time.”
Pelosi, the self-professed soon-to-be Speaker of the House, recently discussed the fallout of several bombs sent to the Clintons, Obamas, fellow California Rep. Maxine Waters and others in an interview with TMZ.
Pelosi clarified her comments blaming Trump for the ordeal, and insisted the president should “rein in” his rhetoric to avoid inciting violence.
“What I said was when the president spoke, he actually started to blame some of it on the press and saying they have to rein in what they’re saying. The fact is, he has to rein in what he’s saying,” Pelosi told the celebrity gossip site.
“Calling the press the enemy of the people, that’s not a good thing to do,” she continued. “Maybe he doesn’t know it, but a president’s words weigh a ton … and they fall on different ears.”
“So are you saying the president’s words are in some way responsible for these bombs being mailed?” a reporter pressed.
“No, what we said – Chuck Schumer and I said – is the fact that children are watching, that the president should rein in some of his rhetoric because … he divides people with some of what he says,” Pelosi said. “Our country is a country of love, and that isn’t demonstrated by some of what he says.”
She added that she’s not concerned for her personal safety because she’s been an “object” of GOP frustrations for decades. Pelosi, 78, has spent virtually her entire career in politics, first winning election to Congress in 1987. In recent elections, she’s become a lightning rod for criticism, with both Republican and Democratic candidates denouncing her “San Francisco values” on the campaign trail.
Despite a growing number of Democrat congressional candidates vowing not to vote for Pelosi as speaker of the House if the party takes control of the lower chamber, Pelosi has repeatedly assured the media she will reign supreme following the 2018 midterms.
As many as 10 rudimentary pipe bombs were reportedly delivered to some of Trump’s fiercest critics this week, including the Clintons, Obamas, billionaire liberal activist George Soros, CNN studios, California Rep. Maxine Waters, and others.
The FBI is currently investigating the bombs, which are believed to be related.
“Well, I have been – shall we say – an object of their, I’ve been a target for a very long time,” Pelosi said of the bomb threats. “So this is nothing new for me.”
Besides, she said, she’s praying for the president.
“We cannot do tit for tat. It can’t be they said this and we say that. No, again we’re a country of love. Our hearts are full of love. I pray for the president that his heart will receive the goodness of the American people,” Pelosi said.
“The children are listening. People have to do the right thing and vote their conscious and hold us accountable.”
The bomb threats come just a few months after Waters called on followers to harass Trump’s cabinet in public during an immigration rally in Los Angeles.
“And if you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they’re not welcome,” Waters said.
In the weeks that followed, numerous Trump officials and other Republicans were accosted in public while so-called anti-fascists attacked the president’s supporters at rallies and other events.
Trump has repeatedly condemned both Waters and those behind the bombs, most recently in a post to Twitter that places much of the blame for the current situation exactly where it belongs.
A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018
“A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” Trump posted Thursday. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”
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