House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up a copy of President Donald Trump’s state of the union address Tuesday night at the conclusion of the annual speech.
.@SpeakerPelosi tears up of State of the Union speech.#SOTU #SOTU2020 pic.twitter.com/sIpi4G7KsL
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 5, 2020
The words she tore up focused on premature babies, fallen service members, veterans, military family reunions and mourning families. Throughout the speech, Trump honored one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, who is 100 years old, surprised a military family with their father’s return from overseas, and celebrated the birth of a baby at 21 weeks. Democrats on the left, however, applauded Pelosi for dismissively ripping apart a text that sought to unify the nation.
Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who walked out the speech, said Pelosi should have shredded it.
I would have shredded it. #justsaying
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) February 5, 2020
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar applauded Pelosi using a GIF of the House speaker from a previous state of the union address.
https://t.co/7zhYWYJZhu pic.twitter.com/Lb27PI28f2
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 5, 2020
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who didn’t attend the event, gave it a nod.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 5, 2020
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who also didn’t attend the event, retweeted this:
.@SpeakerPelosi tore 👏🏾 it👏🏾 up👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/5NJAbdVSN1
— Lynese Wallace (@lynesewallace) February 5, 2020
Immediately after Pelosi tore up the speech, the White House put out a statement condemning Pelosi’s divisive act.
“Speaker Pelosi just ripped up: One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The survival of a child born at 21 weeks. The morning families of Rocky Jones and Kaylan Mueller. A service member’s reunion with his family. That’s her legacy,” the White House account wrote on Twitter.
Speaker Pelosi just ripped up:
One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen.
The survival of a child born at 21 weeks.
The mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller.
A service member's reunion with his family.
That's her legacy.
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) February 5, 2020
When asked why she tore up the speech, Pelosi voiced no regrets, and said “because it was the courteous thing to do,” according to NBC reporter Frank Thorp V.
Q: Why did you tear up the speech?
PELOSI: “Because it was the courteous thing to do.”
PELOSI: “It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) February 5, 2020
