Putting the Pieces Together: Pelosi Refused National Guard for Jan 6 While Schumer Blamed Trump 

lev radin / shutterstock.com
lev radin / shutterstock.com

A desperate Schumer. A disengaged Pelosi. An innocent President accused of fueling an “insurrection.” It’s all on display according to a video clip that MSNBC has magically uncovered regarding the unfolding events of January 6 after lawmakers were evacuated. 

In the clip, a disheveled Chuck Schumer (D-NY) screams for reinforcements on a phone call with then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. “D.C. has requested the National Guard, and it’s been denied by the DOD,” Schumer yelled. “I’d like a good (expletive) reason why it’s been denied.” 

Sitting right next to him, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) could have provided him the answer had she chosen to. It was, after all, her “my bad” moment that allowed an otherwise peaceful protest to escalate the way it did. 

After years of denying that she withheld critical protections ahead of the January 6 protests, a video showing Pelosi in the backseat of a car as it careened through a parking structure has emerged, and with it, the answers to questions most already knew the answer to. Pelosi snaps at a staffer in the clip, implying that it was stupid to ask permission to call for reinforcements “in the middle of the thing.” “Why weren’t they there to begin with? They clearly didn’t know,” she told Terri McCullough, her chief of staff, during the footage. “I take responsibility for not having them prepared for more.” 

Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), chairman of the subcommittee investigating the January 6th committee’s flawed and partisan conclusions, noted that the video footage “directly contradicts” the J6 committee’s narrative. 

It’s vindication for Trump, as well as his maligned staff. Kash Patel, a former Trump advisor, said that he has been testifying for years that Pelosi was responsible for not activating the National Guard, even after Trump authorized it on January 3, ahead of the electoral count. Patel and others have faced smear campaigns because of their testimony. 

Patel has long stated that during a meeting just days before the January 6 protests, Trump sanctioned defense officials to inform Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington D.C. and then-Speaker of the House Pelosi that they could deploy the National Guard to the District and the U.S. Capitol building due to threats of violence. The Capitol Police and Mayor Muriel Bowser declined the offer of an armed National Guard presence, something that Pelosi said at the time would be “bad optics” for the start of Biden’s presidency. 

Patel stated that on January 6, they sent DOD leadership to Bowser, Pelosi, and Capitol Police to communicate the availability of deploying the National Guard to safeguard the Capitol and District. However, he asserts, they again declined the offer. Patel added that recent footage of Pelosi on January 6 suggests she blamed herself for not taking further action.  

The House Speaker alone does not have authority to enact the National Guard. Still, she could have called for an increased showing by Capitol police and followed through on Trump’s authorization for a National Guard presence. 

Pelosi can be seen shifting blame like a pro alongside Schumer. She told then Vice-President Mike Pence that she and Schumer were “disappointed” that getting approval for the National Guard had taken “so long” but expressed her relief that the deployment was “at least moving.” 

According to Representative Jason Crow (D-CO), MSNBC’s footage is a “stark reminder” of the “chaos, brutality, and violence” of that day, doubling down yet again on why the event needed to be called an “insurrection.” But finding media coverage of Pelosi claiming responsibility for refusing to call for reinforcements until it was too late is a bit harder since it tosses her under the bus completely. 

Schumer quickly called on acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen to tell Trump to make the rioters stop, despite big tech blocking the former President from all social media platforms as soon as the peaceful protests turned darker. In addition, Trump had at least one media outlet shut down his remarks as the events escalated, effectively cutting off all avenues of communication between the former President and protestors. 

While the “newly discovered footage” of Schumer and Pelosi panicking together looks and feels like a second grader’s play, it’s entirely possible that Schumer didn’t realize the target of his wrath was sitting right next to him, sucking on her dentures and possibly sipping from a wine bottle hidden in her purse.