Republicans disavow 'mob' for confrontation of Nancy Pelosi
As President Donald Trump seeks to paint Democrats as a party of "mobs" hell-bent on violently confronting conservative figures, a new video showing a group of purported "anti-communists" shouting down and insulting House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is receiving condemnation from several Republican lawmakers.
The video posted on YouTube, which shows Pelosi being confronted outside a Miami Democratic campaign event Wednesday, includes protesters chasing and heckling Pelosi and banging on a door after her and her staff walk through it.
One of the protesters can be heard saying, "It's the Proud Boys in here," a reference to the far-right group that is under investigation over a series of attacks on protesters in New York last weekend.
Drew Hammill, a spokesperson for Pelosi, confirmed the confrontation in a statement to ABC News Saturday and said President Trump and Republicans in Congress were to blame for stoking "the flames of incivility, intolerance and aggression."
"It is stunning that Republicans have the gall to call courageous survivors of sexual assault a 'mob,' and at the same time they incite and condone violent actions like this," Hammill said. "Republicans must condemn this vile and dangerous conduct, and stop the reckless and dangerous rhetoric that encourages it."
Several Republicans including Rep. Steve Scalise and Sen. Marco Rubio took to Twitter late Friday night and Saturday to disavow the group.
"I don't agree with Nancy Pelosi's agenda, but this is absolutely the wrong way to express those disagreements," Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise wrote in a tweet. "If you want to stop her policies, don't threaten her, VOTE! That's how we settle our differences."
Florida Senator Marco Rubio also tweeted about the incident.
"You are not helping the cause of anti-communism if you behave like the repudiation mobs Castro has long used in Cuba," he wrote. "Not sure who was behind this behavior but you should have protested Pelosi campaign stop without borrowing the tactics of left-wing mobs."
Following the emotionally charged and at times aggressive protests in Washington during the hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump and other Republicans have repeatedly accused Democrats of stoking irrational fears and inciting "mobs" to publicly shout down their political opposition.
They have seized on comments by lawmakers like Rep. Maxine Waters, who in June had urged supporters during a rally to "create a crowd" and "push back" whenever they happened to spot a Trump administration official in public.
President Trump has even sought to make a hashtag out of the attack line, tweeting Wednesday "#JobsNotMobs."
