The relationship between two of the most powerful people in Washington hit an epic new low at the State of the Union address.
It was the snub seen around the country — and in Democrats’ view, President Donald Trump’s State of the Union only went downhill from there.
As Speaker Nancy Pelosi extended her hand just before the start of Trump’s address, the president quickly pivoted and turned his back, leaving the speaker hanging.
Not to be outdone, the normally restrained Pelosi put on a show herself as Trump’s speech wrapped. Standing behind the president, she meticulously ripped up page after page of the speech, while Trump and other Republicans cheered the end of an address that mostly catered to hard-core GOP partisans.
“It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative,” Pelosi told reporters as she exited the chamber. Later as she left the Capitol, she added, “It was a manifesto of mistruths.”
A source close to the speaker said the moment was not planned. But the two bookends — the snub and the tear — perfectly encapsulate the ever-growing chill that has defined the Trump-Pelosi relationship. Pelosi and Trump hadn’t spoken in months, and their encounter Tuesday night was the first time they were face to face since Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry.
The whole episode at the annual address left many befuddled members, who said the feuding captured the spectacle the president created on Tuesday night.
“I suppose it’s all part of the reality-show State of the Union address that we just experienced,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) mused as he left the chamber.
“That was a 2020 campaign rally, that was not a State of the Union,” added Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), calling it a “disgrace. … I regret stepping one foot inside.”
……..
- Discussion
-
Tensions between Pelosi and Trump flared in dramatic and visible moments during the State of the Union last nighthttps://t.co/L93seutuUf
— POLITICO (@politico) February 5, 2020
I wish Rush Limbaugh only the best in his struggle with cancer, but putting a medal of freedom on a talk show host in the middle of the SOTU was just weird. This whole speech is like a reality TV episode. Which I guess isn’t surprising.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 5, 2020
You're not going to like this, Democrats, but that speech was hideous, maudlin, manipulative, and cheap, and IT WILL WORK. Trump knows that a lot of Americans are basically TV addicts, and that stuff sells. You cannot beat him at this, or outbid him. You can only outvote them.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 5, 2020
I just asked Speaker Pelosi her reaction to the #SOTU speech.
“I tore it up,” she said.
Why?
“It was the courteous thing to do,” she said. https://t.co/b5rVil4ply
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) February 5, 2020
"About a quarter through it I thought, ‘You know – he’s selling a bill of goods like a snake oil salesman. We cannot let this this stand.’
So, somewhere along the way realizing what was coming, realizing I started to stack my papers in a way that were tear-able."
— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) February 5, 2020
The outrage machine is in full effect on Pelosi tearing up the speech. Donald Trump could soil himself on the House floor and they'd call it Churchillian.
Spare me lol.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 5, 2020
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.