Nancy Pelosi clarifies calling Trump a 'vile creature' and 'worst thing,' says it was a 'euphemism'

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Nancy Pelosi says calling Trump vile creature was a euphemism

Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed her controversial comments calling President Donald Trump "vile" and the "worst thing" on Earth.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., addressed her controversial comments calling President Donald Trump a "vile creature" and the "worst thing" on Earth during her latest interview with CNN Wednesday.

"He’s just a vile creature, the worst thing on the face of the Earth," Pelosi told CNN’s Elex Michaelson about Trump in an interview earlier this month.

"You think he's the worst thing on the face of the Earth?" Michaelson asked at the time.

"I do, yeah, I do," Pelosi said.

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Nancy Pelosi gave her first interview since announcing she would not be seeking another term. (Screenshot/CNN)

CNN host Anderson Cooper followed up on the comment in his exclusive interview with Pelosi, her first interview since announcing she would not seek re-election.

"One of the things you said recently in an interview, you said that President Trump was a vile creature, the worst thing on the face of the Earth," Cooper began. "Do you think he‘s different now than he was in his first term in terms of his abilities, his leadership?"

"By the way, I said that as a euphemism," Pelosi said, before laughing. "I could have done much worse."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Pelosi's latest statement. 

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"Are there other adjectives you‘d rather use?" Cooper asked.

"No, no, I want to talk about my House, the House Democrats, and how we‘re going to win what‘s there," Pelosi said.

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said, "What’s vile is that Nancy Pelosi supports irreversible, barbaric chemical and surgical mutilation for innocent children and has enriched her family through decades of congressional service while stock trading."

She continued, "President Trump was elected by nearly 80 million people to Make America Great Again, and he is doing exactly what he promised: signing the largest middle class tax cuts in history, securing our border, bringing in trillions of dollars in investment to America, and restoring common-sense policies." 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi stood by her comments, calling President Donald Trump the "worst thing" on the face of the Earth. (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit)

During the original interview, Pelosi defended her remarks, saying Trump was a "vile creature" because he did not honor the Constitution.

"Because he’s the president of the United States and he does not honor the Constitution of the United States. In fact, he’s turned the Supreme Court into a rogue court. He’s abolished the House of Representatives, he’s chilled the press, he’s scared people who are in the country legally," Pelosi said.

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When reached by Fox News Digital for comment at the time, a spokesperson for Pelosi's office responded with a screenshot of a Newsweek article with the headline, "Trump Launches Attack on Nancy Pelosi: Disgusting Degenerate."

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi received backlash for her original comments. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Pelosi's office did not offer a comment to Fox News Digital when it reached out again. 

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Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.