Pelosi says she would have ‘battled’ capitol rioters with stilettos: ‘I’m a street fighter’

Rioters were seen searching for the House Speaker on 6 January

Nancy Pelosi has insisted that she would have fought back against pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January had they found her amid the riots.

In an interview with USA Today, the House Speaker insisted that had the insurrectionists “would have had a battle on their hands” if they had captured her before she was evacuated.

"Well, I’m pretty tough. I’m a street fighter,” the 81-year-old said, before jesting that she would have had her four-inch-high stilettos to use as weapons.

Trump supporters breached the Capitol on 6 January as lawmakers were gathered to certify Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election, forcing them to evacuate.

While most of Congress took shelter in a secure location on the Capitol grounds, Capitol Police evacuated Ms Pelosi from the Capitol complex entirely.

During the second impeachment of Donald Trump, House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett said that was because some of the mob had declared they wanted to kill Ms Pelosi if they found her.

The mob, who were demanding that the election result be overturned, vandalised Capitol property and looted the building, smashing windows and ransacking offices.

A number of rioters were seen searching for Ms Pelosi during the riot, with footage of a man wandering the halls and calling out for her in a threatening manner being shown during the Senate trial.

A now-infamous image was captured of one Trump supporter sitting with his feet up on the desk of Ms Pelosi, who has often been targeted by former president Donald Trump as “crazy”.

During the interview with USA Today, the Democrat explained that she would imminently introduce legislation to harden the Capitol’s security to prevent similar attacks in the future.

She also suggested for the first time that she might move to establish a select committee to investigate the insurrection if efforts to create a special 9/11-style commission failed, the outlet said.

Ms Pelosi called for the independent commission, similar to the months-long probe in the wake of the attacks on 11 September, to investigate the insurrection in February.

Five people died as a result of the violence on 6 January, including one Capitol Police officer who was beaten as he tried to ward off the crowds.

“The one thing among our members that is consistent is – we must find the truth," Ms Pelosi told the outlet.