Trump calls Schiff and Pelosi ‘enemy from within’ even after allies defend past comments

(CNN) — Donald Trump called Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi each “an enemy from within,” even as the former president’s Republican allies attempt to argue that his previous comments labeling political opponents as such are being misinterpreted.

“These are bad people. We have a lot of bad people. But when you look at ‘Shifty Schiff’ and some of the others, yeah, they are, to me, the enemy from within,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” that aired Sunday.

Fox News’ Howard Kurtz gave Trump an opportunity to clarify — “He’s a political opponent of yours, but is he an enemy?” — to which Trump responded, “Of course he’s an enemy, he’s an enemy.”

Trump also called Pelosi an “enemy from within,” falsely claiming the then-speaker of the House had the opportunity to protect the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“I think Nancy Pelosi is an enemy from within,” he said. “She was supposed to protect the Capitol.” He also falsely claimed that he “offered her 10,000 National Guard” and that the California Democrat “didn’t take them.”

The former president’s claims about January 6 are false, CNN has previously reported. The speaker of the House is not in charge of Capitol security, which is the responsibility of the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the US Capitol Police and approves requests for National Guard assistance.

Trump’s former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller also told lawmakers that he was never given a formal order by Trump to have 10,000 troops ready to be sent to the Capitol on January 6. “There was no direct, there was no order from the president,” Miller said.

Trump, in a separate interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” last week, had suggested using the military to handle what he called “the enemy from within” on Election Day. “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroying our country.”

“We have some very bad people. We have some sick people. Radical-left lunatics,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo in that interview, adding later, “I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has seized on Trump’s remarks as it uses the former president’s own words and those of his former aides to cast him as dangerous and unstable. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have highlighted the “enemy from within” comments at rallies across the country, and the campaign has released a new ad featuring the former president’s remarks.

In the days since, the former president’s GOP allies have sought to argue that Trump wasn’t actually talking about political opponents and that his statement had been misinterpreted.

Earlier Sunday, for example, House Speaker Mike Johnson first argued that the former president was referring to criminal or transnational gangs.

“What he’s talking about is marauding gangs,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” when asked about Trump’s suggestion of using the military against the “enemy from within.”

But when Tapper pushed back, saying that Trump had been referring to Democrats like Schiff, Johnson said Trump was not talking about using the military on political opponents.

“I did not hear President Trump in that clip say he’s going to sic the military on Adam Schiff. That’s not what he’s saying. You got two different clips in two different contexts,” Johnson said.

The Louisiana Republican added later: “He’s not Jake, no, he’s not. No. He’s talking about using the National Guard and the military to keep the peace in our streets.”

And Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin last week told Tapper: “I guess what I want to just make very clear is that it’s my belief that what former President Trump is talking about are the people that are coming over the border, that, in fact, are committing crimes, that are bringing drugs, that are trafficking humans, and that are turning every state into a border state.”

Tapper pointed out that Trump was not talking about migrants, but instead the “radical left.” Tapper also referred to Trump specifically naming Schiff later in last week’s interview, with the former president saying that while he can handle foreign adversaries, what is “tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside like Adam Schiff … who’s a total sleazebag, is going to become a senator. But I call him the enemy from within.”

This story and its headline have been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Eric Bradner, Ali Main, Daniel Dale and Zachary B. Wolf contributed to this report.

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