As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was exiting her weekly press conference Thursday — which focused on the House drafting articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump — reporter James Rosen stopped Pelosi in her tracks.

"Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?" Rosen asked.

How did Pelosi respond?

With that, an angry Pelosi stopped, turned, pointed her finger at Rosen, and walked toward him as cameras furiously snapped.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot

"I don't hate anybody," Pelosi said sharply. "I was raised in a Catholic house, and we don't hate anybody. Not anybody in the world. So don't you accuse me."



"I did not accuse you, I asked a question," Rosen replied while Pelosi shot back, "You did. You did."

Rosen went on to explain that U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) of the House Judiciary Committee "suggested yesterday that the Democrats are doing this simply because they don't like the guy. I think it is an important point."

Image source: Twitter video screenshot

Collins on Wednesday told Fox News the Democrats "have to go out and explain it to the American people why they are trying to impeach a duly-elected president simply because they don't like him. And they've failed many times before. This is just a new attempt."



Pelosi replied to Rosen that she has "nothing to do with" Collins statement — and then stepped back to her microphone and ripped Trump.

'I think the president is a coward'

"I think the president is a coward when it comes to helping our kids who are afraid of gun violence," Pelosi said. "I think he is cruel when he doesn't deal with helping our Dreamers, of which we're very proud. I think he is in denial about ... the climate crisis."

The speaker then insisted the latter issues are "about the election" but Trump's impeachment "is about the Constitution of the United States and the facts that lead to the president's violation of his oath of office. And as a Catholic, I resent your using the word 'hate' in a sentence that addresses me. I don't hate anyone. I was raised [to have] a heart full of love and always pray for the president. And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time. So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that."

Pelosi has ripped into Rosen before



Rosen — a Fox News alum who's now with the Sinclair Broadcast Group — got a "testy" reply from Pelosi last month after he asked her a whistleblower anonymity question.

"Well, let me just say this," Pelosi told Rosen, smiling and pointing at him. "I'll say to you, Mr. Republican Talking Points, what I said to the president of the United States: When you talk about the whistleblower, you're coming into my wheelhouse."