Donald Trump's Response To Nancy Pelosi's 'Punch Him Out' Comment Has Twitter In A Tizzy

The news footage from the 2021 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol building shocked viewers all over the world. But for those who were on the scene at the time, it was considerably more terrifying. They donned gas masks, hid under their seats in the House Gallery, texted loved ones, and evacuated under police cover. 

Donald Trump's most faithful supporters — including his own daughter, Ivanka Trump — pleaded with him to call off the protesters, and yet the president waited more than two hours to take action, tweeting a video of himself telling the "very special" rioters, "We love you ... but go home in peace" (via NPR). Moreover, in his address to the nation the following day, Trump refused to say that he had lost the election.

As the investigation into the events of that horrible day continues to unfold, new details are coming to light. One of the more surprising revelations in recent days was new footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, shot by her own daughter Alexandra, in which Pelosi described what she really wanted to do to Donald Trump if he dared enter the Capitol: "I'm going to punch him out, I'm going to go to jail, and I'm going to be happy," Pelosi declared. 

She doubled down on her statement in an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, adding that "he wouldn't have had the courage to go to the Hill. He is all talk." Trump had some choice things to say about Pelosi in return.

Former President Donald Trump gave a phone interview to the conservative station Salem News Channel on October 18. As seen on The Recount, the interviewer asked him to give his reaction to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's statement about wanting to punch him on January 6, 2021. "Well, she's a despicable person, very bad for the country," Trump began. "If I ever said that, it would be a national scandal. With her, it's not even a blip." 

A retweet of the Salem interview elicited plenty of reactions from Twitter users. "I am so glad that clip was made public," stated one user. "We all need to be reminded what character and guts looks like in our public servants." Another pointed out that Pelosi's threat was a reaction to the possibility of the then-president trespassing illegally, clarifying: "[T]he president can not enter the Capitol without the permission of the Speaker of the House."

Commenters also noted what many people already know about Donald Trump: When he expresses his opinions, he doesn't exactly pull any punches himself. One tweet linked to a YouTube compilation of Trump speeches in which he said, among other things, "I'd like to punch him in the face," "Knock the crap out of them," "Maybe he should have been roughed up," and "Try not to hurt him. If you do, I'll defend you in court, don't worry about it."