House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) claimed in an interview Wednesday that Republicans rarely cross President Trump when they disagree with him because they are scared of the president.
“Hardly anybody is speaking out because everybody’s afraid,” Pelosi said in an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Mornings with Zerlina.” “And there’s real justification for fear because Trump is just ruthless in how he’s going after those who do not agree with him.”
Trump, in his second presidency, has wielded hefty sway among Republicans who hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate, successfully guiding contentious candidates through Senate confirmation and pressing the passage of his massive tax and spending overhaul, despite initial hesitations among some GOP members.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) faced a blistering rebuke from Trump when he voiced opposition to the “big, beautiful bill” last month. The North Carolina lawmaker abruptly announced he would not seek a third term next fall, then Trump threatened to field a Republican challenger in the race.
Pelosi accused Republicans in Congress of ignoring the role of the legislative branch “to cater to the executive branch” under Trump and said quiet opponents of Trump’s policies remain silent because they fear “fake investigations that he could start” through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI and are afraid of threats to their personal safety.
Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was attacked by an intruder in their San Francisco home in 2022. Attacker David Depape was convicted in state and federal courts and sentenced to life in prison and 30 years behind bars on the respective charges in 2024. Depape’s attorney said the man had fallen for “conspiracy theories” about the former House Speaker and frequent Trump target ahead of the attack.
“Thank God my husband survived, but that’s what they’re afraid of,” Pelosi said Wednesday. “They don’t want their children threatened, their families threatened, their lives in jeopardy because they speak out against him.”
“We’re not talking about any sense of decency here,” she added.
Pelosi touched on the ongoing uproar over the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. The DOJ announced last week its investigation concluded that Epstein did not keep a “client list” and the disgraced financier killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Trump has repeatedly pushed back against those who have demanded more details about Epstein’s connections and his manner of death.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a podcast interview Tuesday that he thinks the Trump administration “should put everything out there and let the people decide” with regard to the Epstein case, but on Wednesday he said that his comments were “misinterpreted” to appear that he was breaking ranks with Trump.
“I’m saying the same thing the president is,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Pelosi remarked that she had been surprised by Johnson’s initial apparent divide with Trump before he clarified that he was standing behind the president’s position.
“[Johnson] has done everything Donald Trump has asked him to do, to the horror of all of us who care about not only the people we serve, but the institution we serve in,” Pelosi said.
