Nancy Pelosi Snaps at Reporter, Delivers Nasty Insult a Republican Could Never Get Away With: ‘Am I Speaking English?’

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioned whether a Capitol Hill reporter understood English when she pressed the longtime Democrat on whether President Joe Biden should seek a second term.

The fact that ABC News senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott is African-American prompted some to respond on social media that a Republican lawmaker would never get away with the way Pelosi behaved, and that’s probably true.

Scott asked the former speaker as she walked down a hallway in the Capitol complex if she had conveyed to Biden what she had said earlier in the day, apparently referring to an interview Pelosi gave on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire had asked her, “Does [Biden] have your support to be the head of the Democratic ticket?”

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short,” Pelosi responded.

“He is beloved and he is respected and it’s up to him to make that decision,” she added.

Lemire pointed out that Biden has firmly stated that he has no intentions of dropping out of the race.

“I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides we go with,” Pelosi reiterated.

Then she concluded the subject urging her fellow Democrats to wait until this week’s NATO Summit in Washington is over to continued the public discussion regarding Biden’s future.

“I’ve said to everyone: let’s just hold off. Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week,” Pelosi said.

On Capitol Hill, when Scott sought to question the former speaker what she has said to Biden directly, Pelosi responded, “I’m not having this conversation with you or anybody else about what I talk with the president about, with all due respect. I never do.”

Scott followed up wondering about Biden waiting so long to make his decision, before Pelosi cut her off.

“I’m not going to be making any comments in the hallway about the fate of our nation, okay?” she said.

Speaker Pelosi tells me Biden can win

She says she won’t make comments in the hallway about “the fate of our nation”

When I asked if Biden should run she said

“Am I speaking English to you? I’m not going to be making any statements about any of that right now in the hallway..” pic.twitter.com/8R1KsTuTc0

— Rachel Scott (@rachelvscott) July 10, 2024

Undeterred, Scott asked, “Are you concerned whether he can win in November?”

Pelosi quickly replied, “I think he can win in November.”

Finally came the question that apparently broke the camel’s back: “Do you think he should run for reelection?”

Pelosi stopped walking and looked Scott squarely in the face and said, “Am I speaking English to you? I’m not going to be making any statements about any of that right now in the hallway.”

In her video post on X about the exchange, Scott wrote out Pelosi’s snarky response.

One responded to Scott’s post, “Speaking English”…!?!? Very inappropriate and disrespectful.”

“Speaking English”…!?!? Very inappropriate and disrespectful.

— Dr. Gourjoine M. Wade (@DrGWadeSpeaks) July 10, 2024

Another wrote, concerning Pelosi: “If she were a Republican… she’d be an evil racist for treating for questioning your ability to understand English.”

And that’s likely true, because the establishment media is always looking for any soundbite to fit the narrative that Republicans are racists. Certainly questioning a minority reporter’s ability to understand English would fit that bill.

Pelosi probably didn’t mean her response in that way. It’s a common phrase, certainly from back in the day, when someone doesn’t seem to comprehend what you’re saying to them.

Pelosi was clearly trying to voice her frustration with the correspondent’s unrelenting questioning, but it’s worth noting you’re not likely to see widespread coverage accusing her of being a racist because of it, perhaps just some saying she was a little mean.