In a recent online post, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has once again sparked controversy by criticizing President Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C.
Pelosi, a Democrat from California, took to the internet to voice her disapproval of Trump's efforts to combat crime in the nation's capital, which she referred to as a "liberal cesspool."
Pelosi's post read, "Donald Trump delayed deploying the National Guard on January 6 when our Capitol was under violent attack and lives were at stake. Now, hes activating the DC Guard to distract from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration just to name a few blunders."
According to RedState, this statement was met with swift backlash from Steven Sund, who served as the chief of the Capitol Police during the January 6 incident. Sund responded to Pelosi's criticism with a pointed rebuttal, stating, "Maam, it is long past time to be honest with the American people. On January 3, I requested National Guard assistance, but your Sergeant at Arms denied it."
Sund went on to detail further instances in which he requested National Guard backup on January 6, only to be denied each time. He also criticized Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for their decision to put the Capitol on lockdown for several months following the incident, a move he claimed was made only after protesters had been allowed to tour the Capitol.
Sund's response to Pelosi's post included the statement, "When I needed assistance, it was denied. Yet when it suited you, you ordered fencing topped with concertina wire and surrounded the Capitol with thousands of armed National Guard troops."
It has been well-documented that Pelosi declined the assistance of the National Guard offered by President Trump at the time of the January 6th protest. In a video documentary filmed by her daughter, Pelosi admitted that she "totally failed" and that the National Guard should have been called in earlier as the unrest was beginning to escalate. She is also heard saying, I take responsibility," in another clip from the documentary.
Officials from the Trump administration have maintained that the President had preemptively authorized the Guard to be on standby. Sund has also stated that he made similar requests. In his book Courage Under Fire, Sund claimed that he had asked the National Guard to be placed on standby before the Capitol protest.
However, Sund's requests were allegedly denied by the House Sergeants at Arms, who reported to Pelosi, and the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who reported to Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York. NPR reported just five days after the chaos at the Capitol that Sund had requested assistance six times ahead of and during the attack.
Sund has claimed that he made 11 urgent calls on the day of the protest requesting support, but was rejected by the House Sergeant at Arms for 71 full minutes.
FBI Director Kash Patel, in a statement given to RedState last May, suggested that Pelosi and Muriel Bowser, the Democratic mayor of the District of Columbia, played a role in the initial refusal to deploy Guard troops. Patel stated, This deliberate slow-rolling portrays a clear intent to gut the presidents preemptive authorization of the National Guard days prior, which had then been declined by Speaker Pelosi and Mayor Bowser.
Despite the evidence and testimonies contradicting her claims, Pelosi continues to criticize Trump's handling of the January 6th protest. It remains to be seen whether her attempts to rewrite the narrative will be successful, or if the American public will see through her attempts to shift the blame.
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