U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi was heckled by several attendees during a New York speaking event, and one called her a “sad, old drunk” over boos from other attendees.
Pelosi appeared at the City University of New York Graduate Center speaking event with Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman on Monday. During her time on stage, various protestors in the crowd stood up and hurled insults at the congresswoman. When one protestor was removed from the crowd by security, another stood up and continued to verbally degrade Pelosi.
Pelosi recently stepped down as the House Speaker after Republicans won the House in the November 2022 elections. U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy has since been elected as Speaker of the House, a position held by Pelosi for the past four years. Pelosi has led House Democrats since 2003 when she was elected minority leader and served as House Speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. The 82-year-old won’t seek reelection as a Democrat leader, but attendees still held her accountable for a variety of issues at the Monday event, with some screaming out questions as Pelosi sat on stage with Krugman.
“I came to see a warmonger, but you’re a sad, old drunk,” one protester yelled from the crowd as another was removed by security. “What happened? When you went to Taiwan, were you looking for Ukraine? Did we blow up the Nord Stream on accident or on purpose?”
Security returned to remove the protestor.
Protestors’ cries spanned the gamut from Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in July that aggravated the Chinese government to questions about the United States’ alleged involvement in an explosion on the Nord Stream pipeline in September after Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh published a detailed report alleging the attacks on his Substack.
Pelosi was at the New York event the same day former president Donald Trump arrived in New York a day before his arrest and arraignment. Some protestors asked her if she was there as part of Trump’s indictment.
The video of protestors heckling Pelosi has since gone viral on social media.
"I came to see a warmonger, but you're a sad old drunk"
-US protester confronting Nancy Pelosi pic.twitter.com/p4jolWVxa5
— Richard (@ricwe123) April 4, 2023
“For some reason, you have a very bad obsession of getting us into war,” one protestor cried before being removed from the crowd. As security forced the protestor from the crowd, the heckler continued to question Pelosi on the United States’ involvement in the Iraq war. When the heckler was removed, another stood and began questioning Pelosi on topics such as the Nord Stream incident and her trip to Taiwan.
The crowd appeared to be booing the protestors, with one person yelling, “You’re an a******!” and another saying, “Get out.”
Two other protestors rose to heckle Pelosi before being escorted out by security. One protestor said he was at the event “on behalf of everybody who loves peace”.
