Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to England for a debate at Oxford University in April, and while her side got more votes, a speech from a banjo player appeared to school her on the concept of true democracy.

During her speech, Pelosi, a California Democrat who has been in Congress since the early 1990s, kept up her usual assault against former President Donald Trump and his brand of “populism,” arguing that it is a “threat to democracy.”

“Her side got more votes in the debating hall, but as video of the event circulates, her opponent is getting the word out, and it’s not making Pelosi look good,” the Western Journal reported.

In the closing arguments of the debate, Pelosi faced off against Winston Marshall, a British native formerly known as the banjo player and guitarist for the folk band Mumford & Sons. Marshall became a target of the cancel-culture left after he praised a book that criticized the radical elements of Antifa.

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Nancy Pelosi did not like what I had to say…

Populism is not a threat to democracy.

Democrat elites like her are.

Watch my full Oxford Union speech from the debate with her: pic.twitter.com/ZNm8maNZjy

— Winston Marshall (@MrWinMarshall) May 10, 2024

As the Oxford student newspaper Cherwell reported, Pelosi and Marshall — neither of whom are Oxford graduates — were the last speakers on their side. Pelosi argued that the true danger posed by “populism” is “the misrepresentation of people who exploit the populist attitude of ‘I want to have my say’ and then use it to get elected and then hurt those people the most.”

The Western Journal added:

It’s unclear how much resonance Pelosi’s words might have had with the Oxford lads and lasses, but American voters familiar with American politics, in particular Nancy Pelosi’s two tenures as speaker of the House, might think that sounded an awful lot like the 21st century Democratic Party. This is a party that has thrived on pretending to give the poor and minorities their “say,” then hurts them more with dreadful Democratic-run schools and dangerous Democratic-run cities than any Republican has, especially Republicans named Donald Trump.

But Marshall’s response should resonate with any residents of the Western world who have watched as their governments have become almost divorced from will of the people.

From his opening remarks, where he sardonically noted how words like “woman” have evolved in meaning over the years (largely due to leftist influence), to his closing arguments, he precisely articulated the logic of the conservative cause. This cause, often dismissed by the left as “populism,” is something they aim to undermine, the outlet noted further.

“Mainstream media elites are part of a class who don’t just disdain populism, they disdain the people,” he said at one point.

It’s not only the mainstream media; it’s also the entrenched powers of government that disdain the people, which was the crux of Marshall’s entire response.

“Ladies and gentlemen, populism is not a threat to democracy, but I’ll tell you what is. It is elites ordering social media to censor political opponents,” Marshall said in conclusion. “It’s police shutting down dissenters, be it anti-monarchists in this country or gender-critical voices here, or last week in Brussels, the National Conservative Movement.”

He continued: “I’ll tell you what is a threat to democracy. It’s Brussels, D.C., Westminster, the mainstream media, Big Tech, Big Pharma, corporate collusion and the Davos cronies. The threat to democracy comes from those who write off ordinary people as ‘deplorable.’ The threat to democracy comes from those who smear working people as ‘racists.’ The threat to democracy comes from those who write off working people as ‘populists.’ And I’ll say one last thing. This populist age can be brought to an end at the snap of a finger. All that needs to be done is for elites to start listening to, respecting, and God forbid, working for ordinary people.”

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