Another day, another dumb conspiracy theory. And this one’s really fun, folks, because it involves Nancy Pelosi, Mike Pence, Chuck Schumer, and Chuck Grassley.
Like so many conspiracy theories before it, this one began with a compilation video of everyone mentioned above. Thus conspiracy theorists everywhere are now claiming the video was “staged,” Newsweek [1] reports. Posted to X Saturday by user Robert The Builder, the video has now been viewed more than 340,000 times.
Because yes, videos like this tend to attract the MAGA fanatics/QAnon believers like flies on…well, you know.
Check this out pic.twitter.com/v8NghKVmRe [2]
— 🔨Robert The Builder 🇺🇸 (@NobodymrRobert) November 19, 2023 [3]
In the first clip of two clips, we see California Democrat Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) talking to then-Vice President Pence around 6 p.m. on January 6, the day the MAGA-tistas went bazinga and attacked the Capitol building in D.C. to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. The mob was all stirred up by Donald Trump’s evidence-free claims that he was robbed of the victory via widespread voter fraud.
At least 1,200 of the MAGA-tista kind have been charged in regard to the insurrection, according to the latest data from the Department of Justice (DOJ). This includes 400 people who are accused of assaulting or impeding law enforcement, which is, of course, a felony. The DOJ’s D.C. office noted in early September that 623 people had been sentenced although not everyone had been given jail time. About 657 have entered guilty pleas to federal charges, “many of whom faced or will face incarceration at sentencing.”
And let me tell you, these clips look like they’ve had plenty of surgery.
In one clip, we see Pelosi and Schumer appearing to be on the phone with Pence (or his voice, anyway) and we hear him say: “I’m at the Capitol building. I’m literally standing with the Chief of Police.” The video briefly cuts out, and then we hear Pence again.
“They believe that the House and the Senate will be able to reconvene in roughly an hour.”
Then there’s the second clip which shows Pelosi and Schumer on the same day, but this time Grassley, an Iowa Republican appears with them for extra fun as they all confer with Pence. Newsweek notes this part of the video is from a CNN exclusive and has more or less the same dialogue as the first video.
As the compilation concludes, the following words loom:
“Exact same recording. Two different shots. One with Grassley—one without Grassley.”
Folks on social media had all kinds of thoughts that screamed “conspiracy.” All of them probably wrong.
“The whole damn thing was staged, filmed, and orchestrated by Pelosi,” posted X user Just Greg.
X user Chuck Callesto described the video as “damning,” while user Christina Olnick questioned: “Pelosi and Schumer’s mannerisms are different as well. They aren’t talking to Pence, just listening. Both takes coul[d] be staged. By who? CNN? Pelosi?”
Pelosi spokesperson Aaron Bennett was quick to throw ice water on that in an email to Newsweek on Sunday.
“These incoherent conspiracy theories are nonsense. As numerous independent fact-checkers have repeatedly proven. Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination.”
Other more rational X users dismissed the notion that the two recordings are the same.
X user John Silks noted: “Careful. Just because there are 2 videos with people wearing masks listening to the same phone audio doesn’t mean the audio is original on both.”
This is true. Any audio could have been spliced into the videos and we’d be none the wiser. Pelosi and Schumer could have been listening to 50 Cent for all we know.
Okay, probably not, but you get the idea.
“So Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer received information from Mike Pence and wanted to have Chuck Grassley, the highest ranking GOP official in the room, receive the same info,” X user Arthur Casey wrote. “Unless you think Democrats opened up some kind of space-time portal, you’re always pushing conspiracies.
The CNN clip that was used in the compilation was from a longer portion shown on Anderson Cooper 360. The video was posted on YouTube on October 13, 2022. Alexandra Pelosi, Nancy’s daughter, gave the video to CNN. She also just happened to make The Insurrectionist Next Door, an HBO documentary about that awful day at the Capitol.
I mentioned earlier that the video begins with Pence telling Pelosi and Schumer that he’s at the Capitol building. Then we hear him say:
“I’m literally standing with the Chief of Police, of the U.S. Capitol Police, Steven Sund. He just informed me what you will hear through official channels. Paul Irving, your Sergeant-at-Arms, will inform you that their best information is that they believe that the House and Senate will be able to reconvene in roughly an hour.”
As Schumer and Pelosi are on the horn with Pence, Grassley walks into the room and strolls up to the phone to hear what Pence is saying. And in some weird outer-galaxy sort of way, the then-vice president was stuck on repeat.
“I was very pleased to hear from the chief. He came over, he joined me here in the basement of the Capitol to inform me they think you’ll be able to reconvene the Senate and Madame Speaker you’ll be able to reconvene the House in roughly an hour.”
Newsweek added there’s one quite clear discrepancy in the original CNN video posted on YouTube and the shorter clip posted to X — Pelosi’s voice was clearly muted in the latter one.
Okay, here’s the deal, folks: There are undoubtedly authentic conspiracy theories. But they don’t include the dumb popular ones we usually hear. President Biden doesn’t have a body double, he’s not dead (as more than a few of these ‘theories’ purport), there are no “Jewish Space lasers,” and Donald Trump is not some messiah come to save children from pedophiles.
Donald Trump doesn’t have enough time to do that. He’s too busy screaming on Truth Social about how unfair the world is to him.
So now you know.
Now here’s the CNN footage on YouTube.