October 14, 2024 - 4:00pm

Nancy Pelosi has said that the upcoming election is unique in its threat to American democracy.

Speaking at Chatham House in central London, the Democratic former speaker said that Americans had a grave choice to make at the ballot box on 5 November. “What’s on the ballot is nothing less than democracy,” said Pelosi. “Democracy in our own country, democracy writ large among our allies and alliances around the world.”

“In our own country, the issue is about honouring our oath of office to the constitution, to protect and defend the constitution of the United States — that is very much at risk in this election,” she added. Citing women’s rights and the Republican stance on abortion, the former House Speaker previously said that “freedom” was on the ballot. On another occasion, she said “everything we love” rests on the outcome of the election.

The 84-year-old went on to outline why Trump is different from other GOP leaders and why this election was particularly fraught. “Common ground; that is what we always have to strive for,” she said.  “That is our responsibility but we cannot shirk our responsibility as well — this has never been the case in an election before with John McCain, or Bob Dole, George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Mitt Romney. That hasn’t been the kind of election we’ve had, but it is with the current nominee of the Republican party.”

The former speaker’s comments come just a day after a man was arrested near Trump’s rally in California with loaded guns, thwarting what many are suggesting could have been a third assassination attempt on the Republican nominee in a little over three months. Republicans have accused the Democrats of using dangerous rhetoric which led to the political violence. After the second assassination attempt, Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance said: “You know the difference between conservatives and liberals? No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months”. He added: “The Left needs to tone down its rhetoric.”

Political violence was a topic that cropped up often in Pelosi’s conversation with Chatham House director Bronwen Maddox. She said that there was no place for violence in politics, referring to the almost-fatal assault on her husband at their home in San Francisco and the 6 January Capitol riots when her office was broken into. New footage from the day of the riots unearthed in August this year showed Pelosi calling Trump a “domestic enemy”.

Throughout the conversation, Pelosi attempted to not call Trump by his name, instead referring to him as the “other guy” or the “former president”. Maddox joked that she “respect[ed] this principle of never uttering his name”. Having previously mentioned a Gandhi quote about bridging political divides, Pelosi responded: “I’m sorry Gandhi, I’m not there yet.”


Max Mitchell is UnHerd’s Assistant Editor, Newsroom.

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