During an interview with USA Today’s Susan Page, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her biggest accomplishment was passing the Affordable Care Act, her biggest disappointment is a failure to pass gun control laws, and she doesn’t really want to talk about President Trump. “I’m really not here to talk about the incoherence, the cruelty, the corruption of the current president of the United States,” Pelosi said. “The person most responsible for impeaching President Trump when I was speaker was President Trump. He gave us no choice,” she said, when asked if a new Democrat majority would impeach Trump for a third time. “If he crosses the border again. But that’s not an incidental thing.” “No, there has to be cause. There has to be reason. We had review. This was a very serious, historic thing,” she said. “Our founders knew that there could be a rogue president, and that’s why they put impeachment in the Constitution. They didn’t know there’d be a rogue president at the same time a rogue Senate that didn’t have the courage to do the right thing. It was bipartisan in the Senate, but it wasn’t enough.”

SUSAN PAGE: I wonder-you’re confident Democrats will regain the House in the midterms. Should Democrats think about impeaching President Trump if they do? NANCY PELOSI, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: The person most responsible for impeaching President Trump when I was speaker was President Trump. He gave us no choice. He crossed the line in his telephone call with President Zelenskyy as one manifestation of his disrespect for the Constitution, his jeopardizing the sanctity of our own elections in our country, and the rest. And then, of course, January 6th. He can try to change the narrative all he wants, but we will be there to make sure the public knows the truth about January 6th: it was an insurrection incited by the president of the United States. Then he goes and pardons people who are beating up cops, thinking he’s pro-safety-beating up cops. And then now, listen, look at this: freeing a drug dealer who was president of Honduras, responsible for participating in 400 tons of drugs coming into the United States, and saying we’re going to jam up the noses of the American-of the gringoes, of the gringoes-and the president pardons him. And then he’s bombing ships that he says have drugs coming into the country. There’s something wrong with this picture. Now, okay, let me just say this: I’m here on the positive side to make sure great people, values-based, honoring the vision of our founders-especially in the year of our anniversary of our country-honoring the vision of our founders, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, and the dreams and aspirations of our children. I’m really not here to talk about the incoherence, the cruelty, the corruption of the current president of the United States. SUSAN PAGE: But just to make sure I understand you: this should not be the agenda of Democrats- NANCY PELOSI: If he crosses the border again. But that’s not an incidental thing. You say, We’re going to do that. No, there has to be cause. There has to be reason. We had review. This was a very serious, historic thing. And our founders knew that there could be a rogue president, and that’s why they put impeachment in the Constitution. They didn’t know there’d be a rogue president at the same time a rogue Senate that didn’t have the courage to do the right thing. It was bipartisan in the Senate, but it wasn’t enough. SUSAN PAGE: You mentioned that you won’t have the power that you’ve had in the past when you’re out of Congress, but you will have influence. Tell me what you envision yourself doing after you’re out of Congress. NANCY PELOSI: Well, there are many options. It’s a funny thing because people say that to me and they say, Well, what are you going to do next? And how about: would you consider this or that? And I said, I don’t have to do-I’m old. I don’t have to do anything else. But I have the energy. I think it’s from being Italian. I think it’s from eating a lot of dark chocolate. Whatever it is, I don’t ever feel any less energetic than I ever have. But it’s about the children and it’s about our country. I grew up in a very patriotic family in Little Italy in Baltimore. We were devout Catholics. We were proud of our American heritage. We were fiercely patriotic and, in our case, staunchly Democratic. SUSAN PAGE: You see yourself raising money, giving advice? NANCY PELOSI: Yeah. All that. Well, advice if people want it, but basically they have to be themselves. And the best advice I ever got when I was running for office-especially, well, the first time I ran for Congress-was just be yourself. The authentic you. That is what matters to people: the sincerity, the integrity of it all. SUSAN PAGE:Is there anything you couldn’t do in Congress that you can do when you’re out of Congress that you’re looking forward to doing? NANCY PELOSI: One thing that I say from time to time is: being in Congress for all these years, you really don’t have as much time as you would like to be a friend. Your friends have ups and downs and this or that, and you really can’t be there for them because you have to be there for the vote. SUSAN PAGE: Your proudest achievement? NANCY PELOSI: Affordable Care Act. There’s absolutely no question. For 100 years, presidents had tried-Democratic presidents. It was Republican too. SUSAN PAGE: Yeah. Right. Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt- NANCY PELOSI: Harry Truman got close with Medicare. LBJ-so fabulous-Medicare, Medicaid. The Clinton-everybody tried. But Barack Obama came with the intention to do this, and we had plans for it. We’ve always been that-when I came to Congress, that was my issue, healthcare, and of course relating to HIV and AIDS at that time, but the larger issue as well. And so when he was president, it gave us the opportunity, and he knew it-chapter and verse. But when it’s accomplished, it’s really an accomplishment. And he called and said, When you pass the bill, I’m happier tonight than I was when I was elected president of the United States. And I said, Well, Mr. President, I don’t agree. I’m happy tonight, you can be sure. But if you had not been elected president of the United States, we would not have this victory tonight. SUSAN PAGE: So that’s your proudest achievement. What’s been your biggest disappointment? NANCY PELOSI: My disappointment-always have it, I’ll never give up on it-is guns. A four-letter word: guns. The children would be dying in a classroom. Families-just the saddest thing. But it’s about two things: that politicians should think that their political survival is more important than the survival of children and families in our country, and that the gun industry-I’m not talking about lobbyists here, I’m talking about the gun industry-with endless big money, just deciding that they are going to have it their way at the cost of lives in our country so they can make a profit. And it’s a global issue too. Guns are very much a border issue as well. They don’t care. They just care about making money. So it’s money and power, and kids pay the price, and families pay the price.

RealClearPolitics Videos