Pelosi Excoriated for ‘Backwards’ Claim That Trump Must ‘Prove Innocence’

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was eviscerated on social media after claiming Thursday that former President Donald Trump has a “right” to “prove innocence” following news that a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him.

Pelosi, a former House speaker, appeared to have flipped a central principle of the U.S. justice system by stating that those who have been accused of crimes have “the right to a trial to prove innocence” and that Trump, too, has “that right.”

“The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law,” Pelosi wrote on Twitter. “No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence. Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.”

The California Democrat was immediately hit with a barrage of criticism about her statement, including from numerous prominent politicians and figures.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), whose extensive work as an attorney included arguing cases before the Supreme Court, called Pelosi’s comment “backwards” and said she had made a “mockery of our justice system”:

This tweet—and the indictment it’s praising—is a mockery of our justice system.

Pelosi says Trump has a “right” to “prove [his] innocence.”

That’s exactly BACKWARDS: Under our Constitution, you’re innocent until proven guilty.

The indictment is frivolous & an abuse of power. pic.twitter.com/E6qkCO0SrN

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 31, 2023

House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) observed of Pelosi’s remark that “that’s not how it works in this country”:

Nancy Pelosi says President Trump has to “prove his innocence.”

That’s not how it works in this country.

But that’s how Democrats think. And it’s scary.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 31, 2023

House Republican Conference chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) issued a statement blasting Pelosi as a “radical authoritarian” whose reaction to Trump’s indictment was “deeply offensive”:

My full statement on Nancy Pelosi’s UnAmerican “guilty until proven innocent” statement: pic.twitter.com/WcZMEknQO2

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) March 31, 2023

A fellow former House speaker, Newt Gingrich, noted Pelosi had “turned the American system upside down”:

Nancy pelosi’s tweet that “everyone has the right to prove their innocence” is a 100%misreading of the American constitution. In totalitarian states you are guilty until proven innocent. In America you are innocent until proven guilty. She turned the American system upside down.

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) March 31, 2023

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), who previously practiced law in Minnesota, assessed that Pelosi “is not familiar with the cardinal rule of our justice system: ‘Innocent UNTIL proven guilty'”:

Evidently, Nancy Pelosi is not familiar with the cardinal rule of our justice system: "Innocent UNTIL proven guilty." https://t.co/qXm3LOT7e7

— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) March 31, 2023

Tom Fitton, president of the government watchdog group Judicial Watch, viewed Pelosi’s remark as confirmation of “malicious political prosecution” by the Manhattan district attorney:

Pelosi confirms malicious political prosecution by suggesting Trump is guilty until proven innocent! https://t.co/5mhcP0GD7v

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) March 31, 2023

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy characterized Pelosi’s comment as a “Freudian slip” rather than an “innocent mistake”:

Defendants don’t “prove their innocence” in court. Prosecutors must prove guilt. This isn’t an innocent mistake, it’s a Freudian slip that reveals how certain “leaders” in this country think. https://t.co/g0YHGqtaDh

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 31, 2023

Pelosi also attracted attention from abroad. Nigel Farage, a former leader of the U.K. Independence Party who spearheaded Brexit, declared that Pelosi was “wrong!” adding, “In free countries that’s not how it works”:

Pelosi says Trump must prove his innocence. Wrong!

In free countries that’s not how it works.

The Dems are now very dangerous indeed. https://t.co/eRDxS4xwQ5

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) March 31, 2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), one of Trump’s most fervent supporters in Congress, shared Pelosi’s tweet, exclaiming, “Two-tiered Justice System!”:

In Nancy Pelosi’s America, President Trump is jailed and MAGA Americans are “guilty until proven innocent.”

Two-tiered Justice System! https://t.co/KSXUhJoa0T

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) March 31, 2023

Lee Zeldin, who ran for governor of New York on the promise to fight crime and fire the Manhattan district attorney, also chimed in on Pelosi, calling her “dead wrong”:

Nancy Pelosi is dead wrong here. Does she really have no clue that the burden is not on a defendant to prove their innocence at trial? https://t.co/h2i25rMeyM

— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) March 31, 2023

While Pelosi has not retracted her statement, Twitter attached a “context” note to her tweet Friday morning, saying the former speaker was mistaken to invert the justice system and citing Cornell Law School’s legal encyclopedia.

The tweet had garnered nearly 14 million views and 45,000 comments at the time of this publishing.