House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended ripping up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address following the speech, saying it was the “courteous thing to do.”
When asked by a reporter what she thought of the president’s speech, Pelosi shot back, “I tore it up.” “I was trying to find one page and it wasn’t in there,” she added as she walked out of earshot of the microphone.
.@SpeakerPelosi: “I tore it up” pic.twitter.com/agYfG65wKC
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) February 5, 2020
When another reporter further down the line asked Pelosi why she’d ripped up the speech, the House Speaker responded, “It was the courteous thing to do, given the alternative.”
Reporter: "Why did you rip the speech up, Madam Speaker?"
— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) February 5, 2020
Nancy Pelosi: "Because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative." pic.twitter.com/wtMOoB3lGU
Pelosi did not elaborate on what the referenced "alternative" might have been.
Pelosi's public destruction of Trump's speech, which included the stories of a 100-year-old Tuskeegee airman, a Gold Star family, a war hero coming back home to his family, ISIS victim Kayla Mueller, and a young black girl who wants to attend the school of her choice -- came as yet one more unprecedented move in what was perhaps the most unique State of the Union address in modern history. The position of Speaker of the House includes a longstanding tradition that the Speaker does not mock, deride or snub the president during the SOTU, even if the two are from opposing parties.
Here's footage of Pelosi's reaction after the conclusion of the speech: