The war between President Trump and the House Democrats continues to escalate, as Democrat-led House committees issue subpoenas related to the impeachment inquiry, while the White House refuses to cooperate, and Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trade barbs both publicly and behind closed doors.
On Wednesday, Democrats walked out of a closed-door meeting with Trump about Syria after the president allegedly called Pelosi either a “third-rate politician” or a “third grade politician” — like everything else, the exact phrasing of his alleged put-down is in dispute. In response, Trump took to Twitter to troll his political opponents, mocking Pelosi’s “total meltdown” while sounding the alarm about her mental health and blasting the Democrats’ “witch hunt” impeachment efforts.
“What we witnessed on the part of the president was a meltdown, sad to say,” Pelosi told reporters in a joint press conference with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer after the mess of a meeting on Wednesday.
The president, the Democrats claim, insulted “third-rate”/”third grade” Pelosi and suggested that they “probably appreciated communist Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East,” Fox News reports.
“I pray for the president all the time, and I tell him that — I pray for his safety and that of his family,” Pelosi said later Wednesday. “Now, we have to pray for his health — because this was a very serious meltdown on the part of the president.”
But Trump says the only one who truly had a meltdown was Pelosi, and her mental health is what should really concern Americans.
“Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown!” Trump tweeted along with an image of Pelosi standing up during the meeting in apparent protest of his comments (tweets below).
“The Do Nothing Democrats, Pelosi and Schumer stormed out of the Cabinet Room!” he tweeted, this time with a photo of the Democrats’ now-empty seats.
Prior to the “Nervous Nancy” tweet, Trump posted another photo of Pelosi and her fellow grim-faced Democratic leaders at the meeting, trollingly asking, “Do you think they like me?”
“Nancy Pelosi needs help fast!” Trump tweeted later, in an echo of her condescending comments about his mental health. “There is either something wrong with her ‘upstairs,’ or she just plain doesn’t like our great Country. She had a total meltdown in the White House today. It was very sad to watch. Pray for her, she is a very sick person!”
Trump, who’s been even more busy on Twitter than normal, has been repeatedly tweeting and retweeting on the impeachment inquiry.
One of his particular targets is House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), whom he’s calling on House Republicans and any “honest House Democrats” to “vote to censure for “his brazen and unlawful act of fabricating (making up) a totally phony conversation with the Ukraine President and U.S. President, me.”
Related: Schiff Pressured Witness To Say Trump Pressured Ukraine To Investigate Biden, Report Says
Trump has also retweeted posts by other Republicans, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who warned that Democrats are “trying to impeach [President Trump] behind closed doors … excluding the public, the press, and even Members of Congress from this process.”
Trump has also highlighted tweets by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell condemning the Democrats for how they are handling the inquiry.
“Already, House Democrats’ impeachment ‘inquiry’ is violating norms and precedent,” McConnell wrote in a post retweeted by Trump. “They are denying Republicans and President Trump the same rights that Democrats and President Clinton received during those impeachment proceedings.”
Some of Trump’s many impeachment-themed tweets below:
Nancy Pelosi needs help fast! There is either something wrong with her “upstairs,” or she just plain doesn’t like our great Country. She had a total meltdown in the White House today. It was very sad to watch. Pray for her, she is a very sick person!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019
Republicans are totally deprived of their rights in this Impeachment Witch Hunt. No lawyers, no questions, no transparency! The good news is that the Radical Left Dems have No Case. It is all based on their Fraud and Fabrication!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2019
.@realDonaldTrump was measured & decisive today. @SpeakerPelosi walking out was baffling but not surprising w NO intention of participating in a mtg on nat’l security. Dem “leadership” chose to storm out & whine to cameras, everyone else stayed to work on behalf of our country.
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) October 16, 2019
Do you think they like me? pic.twitter.com/TDmUnJ8HtF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2019
Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown! pic.twitter.com/RDeUI7sfe7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2019
The Do Nothing Democrats, Pelosi and Schumer stormed out of the Cabinet Room! pic.twitter.com/hmP4FNhemv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2019
Hope all House Republicans, and honest House Democrats, will vote to CENSURE Rep. Adam Schiff tomorrow for his brazen and unlawful act of fabricating (making up) a totally phony conversation with the Ukraine President and U.S. President, me. Most have never seen such a thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2019
People all across the country should be alarmed.
Pelosi and Schiff are trying to impeach @realDonaldTrump behind closed doors. They’re excluding the public, the press, and even Members of Congress from this process.
What are they trying to hide? pic.twitter.com/dCp2yaecj1
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 16, 2019
Already, House Democrats’ impeachment “inquiry” is violating norms and precedent. They are denying Republicans and President Trump the same rights that Democrats and President Clinton received during those impeachment proceedings.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 16, 2019
Washington Democrats have been engaged in a three-year-long impeachment parade in search of a rationale. Prominent House Democrats were promising impeachment at the very beginning of this presidency. Fairness and due process are not their objectives here.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 16, 2019