U.S. News
Nancy Pelosi: Trump has ‘cognitive disorders’
By Jake Beardslee · January 24, 2024
In brief…
- Pelosi said neither she nor Haley blocked the National Guard on January 6th.
- The incident has renewed Democratic scrutiny of Trump's age and mental sharpness as he runs for president again.
- Pelosi stressed the need to correct the record about the National Guard delays.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded to an apparent mix-up by former President Donald Trump during a Tuesday interview on MSNBC, saying Trump has “cognitive disorders.”
At a recent campaign rally, Trump falsely accused who he thought was then-Speaker Pelosi of security failures at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. However, Trump incorrectly mentioned former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley instead of Pelosi.
The incident has fueled Democrats who want to highlight Trump’s age and mental fitness in response to critiques of President Biden’s competency.
But Pelosi stressed the need to correct the record, regardless of Trump’s mistake. She rebuked the false claim, saying “It was neither, nobody” who blocked National Guard assistance on January 6.
“It was Donald Trump,” Pelosi said. “He knows, and you know that Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and I begged for hours for the National Guard to come. He knows that we don’t have the authority to bring the National Guard, the President does.”
Pelosi added that Washington D.C. also lacked that power since governors can mobilize the National Guard in every other state.
The Speaker Emerita dismissed questions about Trump’s mental state, saying she would not “spend too much time on Donald Trump’s cognitive disorders.” But the high-profile gaffe has raised fresh doubts about the former president’s fitness as he mounts another bid for the White House at age 77.