Former President Donald Trump raised eyebrows and stirred controversy during a rally in Durham, New Hampshire, on December 16, 2023, as he appeared to mistakenly interchange former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley with Rep. Nancy Pelosi while discussing the infamous Capitol riot of January 6, 2021.
Addressing a crowd of supporters, Trump’s remarks took an unexpected turn into a confusing mix-up of names. “Look at all the people back there—you got a lot of people. This is supposed to be a quaint little area. This is not quaint at all,” Trump remarked, commenting on the crowd size.
Later in his speech, he continued, “You know, when [Haley] comes here, she gets like nine people, and the press never reports the crowds, you know.
By the way, they never reported the crowd on Jan. 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley—you know, they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it.”
Trump’s unsubstantiated claims about Haley being in charge of security and turning down offered assistance added fuel to the controversy.
“Because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley being in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people—soldiers, National Guards, whatever they wanted.”They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.”
Despite the mix-up, Pelosi’s office swiftly responded to the allegations, pushing back against claims that she was responsible for Capitol security on that fateful day.
Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill, emphasized in July 2021, “On Jan. 6th, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was.”
He continued, “This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on January 6th and divert blame.”
Hammill’s statement also highlighted the fact that the National Guard isn’t under the direct authority of the House Speaker.
Further, footage presented during hearings conducted by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection depicted Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer actively engaging with Cabinet members and governors regarding the Capitol attack.
The confusion did not go unnoticed by President Biden’s camp, as they seized the opportunity to taunt Trump.
On X, formerly Twitter, the Biden campaign posted, “A deeply confused Trump confuses Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley multiple times: Nikki Haley was in charge on January 6. They don’t want to talk about that.”
