Donald Trump called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi an "animal" during a rally last night in Ohio, to loud cheers from the crowd.
Just days after Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked in their home, Trump thought it was a good idea to refer to the Speaker as an animal.
He said:
"Pelosi said, 'Please don't call them animals. They're human beings.' I said, 'No they're animals.'"
"Of course, I think she's an animal, too, you wanna know the truth."
Trump realized what he said was unacceptable and anticipated the backlash.
But he chose to double down anyway, blaming Pelosi for his conduct because she voted to impeach him "for nothing".
"They’ll say 'Oh, what a horrible thing he said...' She impeached me twice for nothing!"
You can view a clip of the speech below:
\u201cTrump: I think she is an animal. They\u2019ll say what a horrible thing.. She impeached me twice for nothing!\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
Trump had been talking about a member of the gang MS-13 who had murdered a teen just prior to this outburst as supposed evidence of the kind of people he believes Democrats are trying to bring into the US to "ravage our country" when he referred to the murderer as an "animal"—prompting his sidetrack about Pelosi.
"I really think they want open borders to ravage our country, and every day these democrat [...] policies are getting innocent Americans killed in large numbers."
Twitter was awash with condemnation of the former President.
Speaker Pelosi’s home was broken into last month by an attacker looking for her, and instead he brutally attacked her husband.
Donald Trump tonight: Pelosi is an “animal.”
Disgusting. pic.twitter.com/wOuXnutnRk
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) November 8, 2022
\u201c@DNCWarRoom I think most people are complex and can't be simply categorized as good or bad, but sometimes you see a person whose soul is just a bottomless pit of darkness, with zero redeeming qualities.\u201d— DNC War Room (@DNC War Room) 1667873179
\u201c@Acyn And if 16 more Senate Republicans had spines, we wouldn't have to be listening to him right now. But here we are.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@Acyn This guy should be kept away from public places, and certainly from any form of responsibility.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@Acyn And we wonder why we have violence against people. How is it possible for him to spread this vitriol after all the harm he has caused our country? He has so many cases against him and he continues with this negative diatribe about his impeachment. He caused it himself.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@Acyn Worst disgruntled ex- employee ever.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@Acyn All I hear is ME ME ME ME. POOR LITTLE ME. I'm over it\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@Acyn She didn't impeach him. The US House of Representatives did. \n\nTwice.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
\u201c@ColoradoMom19 I have said the same thing many times. I cannot reach down for an adjective that adequately describes my feelings for him.\u201d— Acyn (@Acyn) 1667872538
Given Trump is not running for any elected office in this election, it is a bit odd he spends so much of the time he is supposed to be campaigning for other Republicans complaining about how he was treated as President.
Certainly not out of character for him though.