Nancy Pelosi: Scott Brown Is 'Clueless'

WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) laced into Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Sunday, calling the senator "clueless" for his demeaning remarks about Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's physical appearance.

"I thought it spoke volumes about how clueless Senator Brown is," Pelosi told ABC's "This Week." "It really spoke volumes about, really, disrespect for women that he may not even realize. I bet you he would like to take that comment back."

Brown's defenders -- including several female GOP Senators -- argue that he was merely responding to the first taunt: Warren had commented that she, unlike Brown, didn't have to take her clothes off to pay for college, to which Brown responded, "thank god." But Pelosi declined to dismiss the exchange as a bit of jocular politics.

"No," she said. "I think that [Warren] was asked a question and I hope it's jokey, and if it is, then hopefully [Brown] will take that comment back. But women know; they hear a comment like that -- it tells you a lot about somebody."

The problem, Pelosi suggests, is that Warren's comments were a response to a question while Brown took a proactive jab. But Brown, too, was asked a question during a radio interview and was, essentially, defending himself. The real problem is that Brown, unlike Warren, was directly mocking his opponent's looks. And he did so with an off-putting, frat-basement-like giggle that, at a minimum, will give female voters pause and could drive sympathy to Warren.

"I'll survive a few jabs from Scott Brown about my appearance," Warren told reporters Thursday.