Speaking during a bombshell press conference, President Donald Trump commented on the new bill pushed by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would ban Congressional stock trading and roasted former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), declaring that Pelosi needs to be investigated and agreeing that a bill targeting stock trading is a good idea.
As background, Sen. Hawley’s bill is called the PELOSI Act, with the acronym standing for Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments. The bill would, if passed, prohibit members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks and bond securities, though not diversified funds or US Treasuries.
So, during the Wednesday, July 30 press conference, a reporter asked the president, “Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Hawley (R-MO) introduced legislation that would ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks. It extends to the president and the vice president. Are you in favor of that legislation?”
Responding, the president first commented on the bill itself, but then quickly turned that into a vociferous attack on Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He said, beginning his takedown of the much-disliked California Democrat, “Well, I like it conceptually. I don’t know about it, but I like it conceptually. And, you know, Nancy Pelosi became rich by having inside information.”
Continuing, the president commented on how the Pelosi family allegedly made a great deal of money off of suspiciously timing trading in the market, saying, “She made a fortune with her husband, and I think that’s disgraceful. So in that sense, I’d like it, but I’d have to really see the I’d have, you know, I study these things very carefully. And this just happened.”
Then, returning to a mix of comments on both the bill and Rep. Pelosi, the president said that he likes the bill conceptually and wants to see Pelosi investigated. He said, “So I’ll take a look at it. But conceptually, I like it. And what I do think is Nancy Pelosi should be investigated because what she has the highest return of anybody practically in the history of Wall Street, save a few.”
Concluding, he alleged that the money from trading came thanks to how she and her husband were able to time the market based on what information she learned as a member of Congress, saying, “And how did that happen? It happened by she knows exactly what’s going to happen, what’s going to be announced. You buy stock and then the stock goes up after the announcements made. And she had to be investigated.”
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Watch him here:
Entertainingly, Fox News Channel host Jesse Watters chimed in after the Trump press conference, along with Pelosi’s comments on the matter to Jake Tapper, and called her the “Wolf of Washington” for her seemingly corrupt behavior, a reference to the infamous “Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort.
Watters said, when referencing the president’s call for an investigation into the Pelosi family’s trading activity, “The Wolf of Washington could be in big trouble. Investigators might finally get a peek inside Nancy and Paulie P’s earning sheets.” And, mocking Pelosi’s denial, Watters said, “‘I’m not into it. My husband is.’ So, Paullie P’s in Napa, a Wall Street whiz kid, and his wife knows nada…if pillows could talk.”
Watch Watters here: