House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may have publicly called for unity in the aftermath of the Capitol Hill riots, but just days later during an online meeting with constituents, she reportedly struck a much different tone.
As the Hill reports, Pelosi said those who were rioting chose their “whiteness over democracy.”
From the report:
The Associated Press first reported her remarks, which she made during an online video meeting with constituents in San Francisco. A transcript of her comments were shared with The Hill.
The comment came after Pelosi acknowledgedthe number of people who died of COVID-19 on Wednesday and Thursday, both of which were records for single-day coronavirus deaths in the United States.
On Wednesday, a mob of President Trump‘s supporters violently attacked the Capitol building while Congress, including the speaker, were in the process of certifying President-elect Joe Biden‘s Electoral College win. The protesters sought to halt the certification of the election results after Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol.
In her comments, Pelosi recognized that Americans are still dying by the thousands each and every day to the coronavirus.
“When that assault was taking place on the Capitol, 3,865 people in our country died of the coronavirus, many of them people of color because of the injustice of it all,” she reportedly said.
“The next day, on Thursday, 4,000 people died of the coronavirus. Why? Because decisions were made at the highest level, months before in the Oval Office, of denial, distortion, delay, calling it a ‘hoax,’” Pelosi continued, clearly referencing President Trump.
As the Hill reports, Pelosi then steered her commented to “Three Kings Day,” which is celebrated on January 6, and “the Feast of the Epiphany.”
“I thought it was going to be an epiphany for those who were in opposition of our democracy to see the light,” the House Speaker said. “Instead, it was an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country, led by this President, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy. That’s what this is about.”
Pelosi also told the group that Trump would ultimately be held accountable, without specifically mentioning impeachment.
“This cannot be exaggerated. Not only the complicity, the instigation of the President of the United States, must and will be addressed,” Pelosi finished per the report. “It’s only a number of days now before we inaugurate a new President.”