Pelosi says ‘Israel has a right to defend itself’ after protesters interrupt live interview with Stephen Colbert
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was interrupted twice by pro-Palestinian protesters during a live interview on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in Chicago on Tuesday night.
Several minutes into the interview, which took place on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, a protester against the war in Gaza audibly shouted after Pelosi said Democrats are going to elect Vice President Kamala Harris.
Colbert told viewers that there was a protest happening in the audience, and the show cut to a commercial break.
“There’s a protest going on right now,” he said. “We’re going to go to commercial break but the subject is on Israel and Palestine and if you’ll have a seat, we have to go to the commercial break, but when we come back I’ll ask the next question I had on that subject, if you will listen.”
After the commercial break, Pelosi spoke about news of Israel accepting the terms of a new cease-fire proposal by the U.S., saying she hopes that Hamas will also accept it.
“Yes, we’ve had a commitment to Israel. It’s been in our security interest to do so,” she said. “Israel was attacked by a terrorist organization. We want the hostages free, but we don’t want children killed in Gaza, and so we have to come up with a solution.”
“And right now, right now, we just got word today, earlier today, that Israel had agreed to the cease-fire agreement,” she added. “We’re hoping that Hamas will too. But it takes me to the point of saying to you, war has no role in civilized society.
“We have to learn more about trust and peace and learning about each other rather than to have, like, resolved by war,” she continued as she was interrupted again by a protester, prompting Colbert to note her answer might be “unsatisfying to some people.”
“They believe that the United States — hold on one second, would you like to respond to what they’re saying?” Colbert asked Pelosi.
When Pelosi replied that she couldn’t hear what the protester was saying, Colbert said they were urging the U.S. to “not have any role in supplying Israel arms to kill the people of Gaza.”
The former House speaker then maintained her stance that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and called for a two-state solution to end the war in Gaza.
“Hostages should be returned and the hostages will return. But the other part of it that has been so major for all of us for many years, is that there must be a two-state solution,” she said. “You cannot have peace unless you have a two-state Israel, a secure Jewish democratic state in the region, and the Palestinians having their own secure country there as well. Unless you have a two-state solution, you will not have a resolution of this.”
The interview by Pelosi, who has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign over his policies in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, came as pro-Palestinian protests on the second night of the Democratic National Convention ended in arrests after protesters clashed with police outside of the Israeli consulate in downtown Chicago.
