Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was still on a high from her antics at Tuesday night’s State of the Union Speech, telling a meeting of the House Democratic caucus Wednesday morning that she felt “liberated” and was pleased with her petty display, according to a report from Politico.
The speaker reportedly “melted down” over President Donald Trump, calling him a liar and the speech “a reality show.”
Trump is getting rave reviews for the Tuesday night address, which featured more public moments than State of the Union speeches involved previously. Trump awarded conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom live during his speech, gave a scholarship to an underprivileged fourth grader so that she can attend the school of her choice, and reunited a family whose father has been serving overseas.
Democrats put on a show of their own, of course, with Pelosi in the lead, first refusing to identify the President as per Congressional protocol, and then ripping up her copy of the president’s speech on camera, in a display that will likely headline Republican campaign commercials for the next nine months.
Pelosi, though, was proud of her achievement, she told members of the House.
She felt “liberated” she said, reportedly, adding that Trump “shredded the truth so I shredded his speech,” according to sources in the room. She called Trump’s speech “a manifesto of mistruths,” echoing statements she made to a reporter Tuesday night.
“You are supposed to talk about the State of the Union,” Pelosi railed, “not the State of your alleged mind.”
On a tear, Pelosi continued, lambasting Trump for having “disrespected” the State of the Union speech, making the House chamber a “backdrop for a reality show… to give a speech that had no connection with reality.”
She then claimed to be a “speed reader” who slammed through Trump’s printed remarks before he even gave them, fact-checking ever detail in real time, from memory.
“I didn’t go in there to tear up the speech, and I didn’t even care that he didn’t shake my hand. In fact, who cares?” sources said Pelosi told her caucus. “But I’m a speed reader, so … I went like this through the speech. So I knew that it was a pack of lies. I knew it was a pack of lies, but I thought, ‘Well, let’s see how it goes.’
She then claimed, sources say, to come up with her paper-shredding display on the fly, without much concern with how it would play on camera.
“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 stand,’” she said. “So, somewhere along the way realizing what was coming, I started to stack my papers in a way that were tear-able.”
Politico claims the House caucus gave Pelosi a standing ovation at the conclusion of her remarks. “The California Democrat then went on to salute all seven House impeachment managers by name,” per the Washington, D.C.-based outlet.
Democrats were mostly supportive of Pelosi’s display but Republicans called it a “tantrum,” and “disgraceful.”