President Donald Trump on Friday questioned whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "the same as she was," apparently doubting her mental fitness.
"You think Nancy is the same as she was? She's not. Maybe we can all say that," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House as he departed on a trip to Japan.
The president spoke after he tweeted an edited video Thursday that made it appear Pelosi, 79, was uncertain in her speech.
The video, apparently from a segment on Fox Business' "Lou Dobbs Tonight," features portions of a 20-minute news conference Pelosi held Thursday in a montage that lasts about 30 seconds. It shows her tripping over her words. At one point in the video, a moment is repeated several times.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, also tweeted a link to the altered video Thursday night, saying, "What is wrong with Nancy Pelosi? Her speech pattern is bizarre." He later deleted the tweet.
Giuliani on Friday appeared to apologize to Pelosi with a somewhat incoherent tweet that read: "ivesssapology for a video which is allegedly is a caricature of an otherwise halting speech pattern, she should first stop, and apologize for, saying the President needs an ‘intervention.' Are."
He then followed up, defending sharing the video: "Nancy Pelosi wants an apology for a caricature exaggerating her already halting speech pattern. First she should withdraw her charge which hurts our entire nation when she says the President needs an ‘intervention. ‘People who live in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones.'"
Trump tweeted the video hours after he had called Pelosi "crazy" at a press conference and said, "She is not the same person. She has lost it." It comes a day after the president cut short a meeting with her and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., because he said he is frustrated with congressional efforts to investigate his administration.
Pelosi did not comment on the videos but responded to the president calling her a "mess" with a tweet Thursday.
"When the “extremely stable genius” starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she wrote.
On Friday, Trump denied knowing about altered videos.
The president also said Pelosi had "made horrible statements" and said "terrible things" about him and that he was only responding to her attacks when he lashed out at her this week.
"She made horrible statements, she said terrible things so, I just responded in kind," Trump said. "I think Nancy Pelosi is not helping this country."
Trump again Friday suggested that he would not work with congressional Democrats until they complete their various investigations into his administration.
"I don't think they can go down two tracks," he said. "I think they're capable of doing two things ...They have to get over their anger."
Earlier this week, Trump sparred with Pelosi and Schumer when he abruptly ended a scheduled meeting on infrastructure spending. He then held an impromptu press conference expressing frustration with congressional efforts to investigate his administration, telling reporters he would not work with Democrats on legislation until they end their probes.
Despite the ongoing feud with Pelosi, Trump said that he could “absolutely” work with her on legislation.
Pelosi on Friday declined to respond to Trump's attacks during an appearance at a college affordability event in Philadelphia.
"I'm not going there. I'm done with that," she said. "What we’re talking about is talking to the American people about our 'For The People' agenda: Lower health care costs, bigger paychecks by building the infrastructure of America in a green way. Build, build, build, that's what we want him to do."
She added, "We were disappointed because we thought we were on a path to that but we’re not giving up, we’re going to focus on the issues."
Pelosi, however, echoed Trump’s opinion that Democrats can work with the administration.
"Well, he's the president of the United States, we always have to be hopeful that there's a path," she said. "But my confidence in our getting something done is with the American people."
