Nancy Pelosi suggests Gaza protesters are 'connected to Russia' and should be investigated

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Sunday during a media appearance that pro-Palestinan protesters were "connected to Russia" and argued calls for a ceasefire were part of "Mr. Putin's message."

CNN's Dana Bash asked Pelosi if she was concerned young voters might stay home on election day, as they've repeatedly expressed frustration, and protested Biden's handling of the Isreal-Hamas war. 

Pelosi said she has been a recipient of the protesters' "exuberance."

"They are in front of my house all the time. I have a feeling for what feelings they have. But we have to think about what we’re doing. And what we have to do is try to stop the suffering in Gaza. This is women and children, people who don’t have a place to go, so let’s address that. But for them to call for a cease-fire is Mr. Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous, and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. I say that having looked at this for a long time," Pelosi continued. 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested on Sunday that some Pro-Palestinian protesters were "connected to Russia." (Screenshot/CNN)

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Bash responded, "you think some of these protests are Russian plants?" 

Pelosi said the financing "should be investigated."

"I want to ask the FBI to investigate that. But apart from that, let’s just say it’s all spontaneous and sincere. Let’s say it’s spontaneous and sincere. Young people care about the right to choose. They care about LGBTQ issues. They care about preserving the planet. They care about gun violence prevention. That’s what they tell us. They care about our democracy and the freedoms that are contained in some of what I said," she continued.

President Biden speaks during the reproductive freedom campaign rally at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia, on Jan. 23, 2024. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Pelosi added that voters would have to either chose to stay home and "enable" or to organize and get out to vote. 

Several recent Biden events have been disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire. Some protesters also called the president, "Genocide Joe."

During an abortion rally on Tuesday in Virginia, a woman could be heard shouting, "Israel kills two mothers every hour."

U.S. Democratic Representative from California Nancy Pelosi speaks during the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Event at the White House in Washington D.C., United States on August 16, 2023.  (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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Biden continued with his remarks and was interrupted multiple times. By the end, around a dozen protesters interrupted the president, shouting slogans like "Stop funding genocide" and "Genocide Joe has got to go."

Even members of Biden's campaign staff have taken issue with the president's stance. In a letter to the president, they wrote, "as your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence."

"We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for. Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country," the letter continued. "However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election."