OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
11:52 AM – Thursday, October 16, 2025
Former Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a heated exchange with a conservative reporter this week outside the U.S. Capitol, angrily telling the reporter to “shut up” after being pressed about her actions on January 6, 2021.
The confrontation occurred when Alison Steinberg, a correspondent for LindellTV, a network run by Donald Trump ally Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow guy,” approached Pelosi (D-Calif.) outside the Capitol on Wednesday.
Steinberg asked why Pelosi had “refused the National Guard” on the day of the Capitol attack — a claim that Pelosi and other Democrats have since refuted, despite the former Democrat House Speaker admitting her own security failures in a video obtained by the Republican-led House Committee on Administration.
“Are you at all concerned about the new January 6th committee finding you liable for that day?” the reporter, Steinberg, asked Pelosi. “Why did you refuse the National Guard on January 6th?”
AdvertisementPelosi, surrounded by aides, turned around to address the reporter.
“Shut up!” Pelosi yelled. “I did not refuse the National Guard. The president didn’t send it.”
The exchange was captured on video and circulated widely on social media, drawing both criticism and praise. Supporters of Pelosi argue that she was responding to a “loaded” question “based on misinformation,” while critics of hers maintain that she dismissed legitimate inquiries about a number of security failures on January 6th.
Nonetheless, Pelosi previously appeared to admit her role in the security failures on January 6, 2021, in footage recorded by her daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi. The video was released last year, and it shows Pelosi acknowledging responsibility for the lack of National Guard presence at the Capitol during the protests.
In the footage, Pelosi states, “I take full responsibility,” and criticizes the assumption that rioters or protesters would act civilly. She also expresses frustration over the inadequate preparation and the failure to deploy the National Guard earlier.
“We have totally failed. We have to take some responsibility for not holding the security accountable for what could have happened,” Pelosi says in the video. “Oh my god, I cannot believe the stupidity of this. And I take the full responsibility”
This footage was obtained by the Republican-led House Committee on Administration — but was unsurprisingly not included in the Biden administration’s January 6th Select Committee’s final report. The nine-member committee featured seven Democrats and two Republicans, with one of the Republicans, Liz Cheney, being a staunch Trump critic who says she voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
While Pelosi has publicly accepted responsibility for the security failures, at least on tape, she has also directed criticism at President Trump, accusing him of inciting the violence on that day.
Pentagon officials under the Biden administration previously argued that the “Speaker of the House does not have authority to deploy or refuse the D.C. National Guard,” as it “rests with the Department of Defense and the President.”
However, Pelosi was involved in security discussions leading up to the Capitol protests, including requests for additional police or National Guard support.
Pelosi, 85, stepped down from Democrat leadership back in 2022. Steinberg, the LindellTV reporter known for her bold and confrontational journalistic style, later shared the clip on social media — calling Pelosi’s response “proof she’s hiding something.”
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