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Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, said that former President Donald Trump is using tactics of a fascist government.
Speaking on Tuesday’s episode of The Guardian‘s Politics Weekly America podcast with Johnathan Freedland, Pelosi, who refused to say Trump’s name in the interview, said that the Republican nominee is assaulting democracy.
Pelosi, a lifelong Democrat, has been a frequent and vocal critic of the former president. She played a central role in both of Trump’s impeachment trials—the first in 2019 relating to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and the second pertaining to his role in the January 6 Capitol riot, where Pelosi charged Trump with inciting an insurrection.
Trump has frequently critiqued Pelosi, describing her as “crazy” back in 2023, shortly after an assailant had attacked Pelosi’s husband in their San Francisco home.
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Pelosi was asked by Freedland if she thought it was fair to describe Trump as a fascist, referencing a recent remark made by Mark Milley, formerly Trump’s top general, who described his boss as “fascist to the core” in new book. She responded, “Yes I do.”
Pelosi then said that this description of him speaks to “the actions he has taken.”
“Trivialize fake news, the press. That is a tactic of fascist government,” she said.
“If you go down the line of the things that he is doing, they mirror things that have happened in that way.”
In the interview, Pelosi referred to Trump as “what’s his name.” When asked by Freedland about why she didn’t want to say his name, Pelosi said, “It’s a grotesque word.”
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Later in the interview, she did say his name, which caused her to say, “I said his name. Oh my gosh, I hope I don’t burn in hell.”
Pelosi also spoke about what she believed to be at stake in the 2024 election.
“When we talk about democracy being on the ballot, it’s a women’s issue but it’s an everybody issue,” she said.
“What is a democracy? It’s free and fair elections, it’s a peaceful transfer of power, it’s an independent judiciary and it is the personal freedoms in our Bill of Rights in our Constitution.”
“[Trump] is assaulting those. Particularly harshly on women,” Pelosi added.
Pelosi then referenced a fundraising event where Trump reportedly called Vice President Kamala Harris “retarded.”
“This is a person running for president of the United States,” Pelosi said. “Has he no respect for the office? Has he no decency about how to communicate?”
“For women in this election what is at stake is their democratic freedom,” Pelosi said.
Later in the podcast, Pelosi called Harris “the best” and said, “We’re so proud of Kamala Harris.”
Freedland also asked Pelosi if she foresaw unrest as a result of the election outcome.
“We’ll have to be prepared,” she said. “One of the things that’s different this time is that January 6, January 6 was horrible. It was terrible. It was violent, it was vicious.”
“You can’t even imagine the grotesqueness of it.”
Pelosi added that recent remarks by Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance about the Capitol riot were a “revisionist history.”
“They knew [it] was so horrible, they had to change the narrative.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump campaign via email for comment.
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