Liberal Senator Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), known for her constant criticism of President Trump, is in hot water from a speech she made nearly three decades ago. In the resurfaced video of her old comments, her hypocrisy was shown on a grand scale when then-Representative Pelosi passionately denounced unfair trade practices by China. The deeply ironic clip reveals striking similarities to the tariff policies championed by President Donald Trump.
As context, the clip, which comes from a speech by then-Rep. Pelosi in July 1996, resurfaced in the wake of President Trump’s announcement that he would be raising tariffs precipitously to combat the unfair trade practices of other nations, such as China. Despite having pushed for fair trade decades ago, as shown by the clip, Sen. Pelosi has come out swinging against President Trump’s tariff initiative.
President Trump addressed the rationale for the recent tariffs during his Liberation Day speech on April 2, 2025. He highlighted the imbalance with countries like China, which place heavy duties on American goods, up to 67%, despite placing few barriers to importing goods to America. The latest tariffs from the Trump Administration have raised the rate of imports from China by 34% to combat the rise.
The viral video, which shows a speech Pelosi gave on the House floor, features her challenging the unfair trade practices engaged in by China. Focusing on the tariff imbalance, she said, “How far does China have to go? How much more repression, how big a trade deficit and loss of jobs to the American worker, and how much more dangerous proliferation has to exist before members of this House of Representatives will say, I will not endorse the status quo.”
The lawmaker then urged her colleagues to fight against the “status quo” trade policies that had contributed to America’s trade deficit with China and called on lawmakers to address the difference between American tariffs on Chinese goods in comparison to Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods. She said, “In terms of tariffs, it’s interesting to note that the average U.S. tariff on Chinese goods coming into the United States is two percent, whereas the average tariff on U.S. goods going into China is 35 percent. Is that reciprocal?”
She didn’t stop there, blasting the trade relationship as profoundly unfair, labeling it a “job loser,” and asserting that Chinese trade policies directly harmed American workers. She said, “This is the biggest and cruelest hoax of all—not only do we not have market access, not only do they have prohibitive tariffs, but China benefits with at least 10 million jobs from U.S.-China trade. The fact is, U.S.-China trade is a job loser.”
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It did not take long for the hypocritical senator to go online and criticize President Trump’s tariff plan, sparking controversy on April 2, 2025. She posted, “Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs will cause chaos in our economy, raise prices for consumers, and hurt hardworking American families. This is not a strategy—it’s the largest tax hike on the American people in history.”
The senator showed her age following the post, adding a nearly identical post to her X account a few days later. She said, “Donald Trump & Republicans are driving us toward recession with reckless tariffs that are nothing more than a massive tax hike on Americans. His inept trade war is crashing the economy, raising costs, and wiping out the hard-earned savings of working families across the country.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video