Pelosi Says Capitol Rioters Chose ‘Whiteness’ Over Democracy

In an online video meeting with her constituents in San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi voices that Capitol rioters chose their “whiteness” over democracy.

What We Know:

• The virtual meeting aimed to focus on the striking number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, which hit record highs on both Wednesday and Thursday for single-day coronavirus deaths in the United States.
• On that same Wednesday, a mob of Trump supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol with the  President’s encouragement, fueled by baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and that the election was “stolen” from him. The catastrophic ambush was an attempt to halt a congressional hearing to certify President-elect Joe Biden‘s Electoral College win. 
• Pelosi highlighted the disproportionate covid death rates for people of color during the meeting, who the CDC has said are more likely to succumb to COVID-19. “When that assault was taking place on the Capitol, 3,865 people in our country died of the coronavirus, many of them people of color because of the injustice of it all,” Pelosi said.
• She continues by implying her criticism of this administration’s failure to handle the pandemic. “The next day, on Thursday, 4,000 people died of the coronavirus. Why? Because decisions were made at the highest level, months before in the Oval Office, of denial, distortion, delay, calling it a ‘hoax.’”
• Pelosi remarked last Wednesday as “the Feast of the Epiphany,” a feast holiday celebrated widely among Christians after Christmas, often referred to as “Three Kings Day.”
• “I thought it was going to be an epiphany for those who were in opposition of our democracy to see the light,” Pelosi said. “Instead, it was an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country, led by this President, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy. That’s what this is about.”

As talks of impeachment circulate throughout the Capitol, Pelosi said on Friday that she intends to impeach Trump for a second time if he did not resign in the wake of the riot.