Pelosi faces backlash for thanking George Floyd for 'sacrificing your life for justice.'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing backlash for thanking George Floyd for "sacrificing his life for justice," after a Minneapolis jury Tuesday found ex-police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in Floyd's death. 

"Thank you, George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice," Pelosi after watching the jury verdict's being, alongside members of the Congressional Black Caucus. "Because of you and because of thousands, millions of people around the world who came out for justice, your name will always be synonymous with justice."

The jury found Chauvin Guilty on all three counts. He faces up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder, and up to 10 years for second-degree manslaughter. It took the jury two days to reach its verdict. Floyd died in May 2020 while in police custody, after Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest for more than nine minutes.

"Nancy Pelosi thanks George Floyd for being murdered," Huffington Post editor Philip Lewis said after Pelosi's comments.

"This type of lunacy is what happens when you view people as nothing but pawns for your cause," journalist Annika Rothstein said, according to Fox News.

"Ummm ... he didn’t sacrifice his life ... he was brutally, horrifically murdered. What the hell is this," Guardian writer Hannah Parkinson tweeted.

Pelosi appeared to try and walk back her comments, tweeting: "George Floyd should be alive today."

"His family’s calls for justice for his murder were heard around the world. He did not die in vain," the California Democrat also said.