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Trump lashes out in televised rant, quizzing room about meeting with 'crazy' Pelosi and insisting he is 'stable genius'

'I’ll tell you what, I’ve been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time, she’s not the same person. She’s lost it'

Clark Mindock
New York
Thursday 23 May 2019 22:36 BST
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Donald Trump claims he was 'extremely calm' during meeting with Democrats

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Donald Trump has lashed out at Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in a rant in which he called the House speaker “crazy” and claimed she “lost it” at a meeting he himself has been criticised over.

Speaking at an event alongside farmers and ranchers, Mr Trump slammed his democratic rivals before asking his White House staff to reassure him that he was “calm” during a meeting over infrastructure on Wednesday.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ve been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time, she’s not the same person. She’s lost it,” Mr Trump said of Ms Pelosi. “I think she’s got a lot of problems.”

Mr Trump reportedly left the meeting with Ms Pelosi and senate minority leader Chuck Schumer — who he nicknamed as “Cryin’ Chuck” — after, according to Ms Pelosi, he “flipped … because he didn’t see a rush to impeachment coming out of our caucus.”

Ms Pelosi suggested after the meeting that Mr Trump actually wants to be impeached, so that the Republican-controlled Senate can overrule the measure. Ms Pelosi also said that she hopes the president’s administration and staff stage an “intervention” for Mr Trump after his "temper tantrum."

But, during the Thursday event, Mr Trump insisted it was Democrats who had lost their cool.

After asserting that he is an “extremely stable genius”, Mr Trump then asked the room to attest to his chill attitude in the immediate aftermath of the meeting.

“You all saw me minutes later, I was at a news conference, I was extremely calm,” Mr Trump said.

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“Kellyanne, what was my temperament yesterday,” Mr Trump asked his counsellor Kellyanne Conway, who he claimed was present yesterday.

“You were very calm,” she replied.

Mr Trump then asked his senior communications director about his attitude, and she replied: “Very direct.”

He also asked press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders about his “tone” at the meeting, and she said he was “definitely not angry or ranting.”

During the course of his insults on Ms Pelosi, Mr Trump said that she was waving her arms about in the air. He likened that to the behaviour of Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.”

“She reminded me of Beto,” the president said.

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