Rashida Tlaib, Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, speaks at a rally in Dearborn, Mich
Election 2018 House Tlaib, Dearborn, USA – 26 Oct 2018
Pelosi: Calling Trump ‘Mother-F**ker’ No ‘Big Deal;’ Doesn’t ‘Have Impact on Peoples’ Lives’
By Craig Bannister | January 4, 2019 | 12:31 PM EST
It’s no big deal that her colleague, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) called President Donald Trump a “mother-fucker,” House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told an MSNBC town hall on Friday.
Thursday, on her first day on the job, Rep. Tlaib declared, “We’re gonna go in and impeach the motherfucker!” Asked to comment on the vulgar remark, Pelosi invoked “freedom of speech” – and said people shouldn’t make a big deal of it:
“That’s freedom of speech on an individual member. As I said, generationally, that would not be language that I would use. But, nonetheless, I don’t think we should make a big deal of it. I really don’t. I really don’t.”
“My colleague’s comments do not have an impact on peoples’ lives,” Pelosi said, adding that Rep. Tlaib’s vulgarity is just “the way people talk”:
“That’s the way people talk around. Again, I’m a grandmother and that’s a different story. But, words weight a ton. And, the president has to realize that his words way a ton, too. And, some of the words that he uses, has a direct impact a direct impact on peoples’ lives.
“My colleague’s comments do not have an impact on peoples’ lives.”
Speaker Pelosi said she has no intention of trying to limit the vulgarity of her party:
“I’m not in the censorship business. I don’t like that language, I wouldn’t use that language, but I wouldn’t establish language standards for my colleagues. But, I don’t think it’s anything worse than what the president has said.”