House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up a transcript of the president's speech live during Tuesday's State of the Union (SOTU) address.
On Wednesday, she continued to rip President Donald Trump, explaining the dramatic display, according to The Hill.
In a private meeting after the SOTU, Pelosi doubled down her decision to rip up Trump's speech after it concluded.
“He shredded the truth so I shredded his speech,” Pelosi told House Democrats during a closed-door caucus meeting. Like she did the night before, she called his 90-minute address “a manifesto of mistruths."
“You are supposed to talk about the State of the Union,” Pelosi continued, “not the state of your alleged mind.”
According to The Hill, Pelosi felt "disrespected," saying Trump used the House chambers like a "backdrop for reality show … to give a speech that had no connection with reality.”
Despite Trump ignoring her extended hand, Pelosi said tearing up Trump’s speech was improvisational and she felt liberated when she did it. Pelosi told her caucus that she read through the speech and felt that Trump was telling lies.
“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?” Pelosi said. “But I’m a speed reader, so … I went like this through the speech. So I knew that it was a pack of lies."
Some Republicans believe Pelosi's actions were tasteless.
“Speaker Pelosi had a tantrum. She disgraced herself. She dishonored the House,” Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney said via the Hill. “She showed once again she is an embarrassment and she is unfit for office.”
On Fox News, Vice President Mike Pence said Pelosi's ripping moment was "a new low.”
Democrats justified Pelosi's actions, giving her a standing ovation for tearing up Trump's speech.
“He dishonored the State of the Union as an institutional practice,” said Rep. Hank Johnson via Politico. “It was kind of outright pandering to his base. It was just a disgraceful display.”
The passive-aggressive exchanges between the president and speaker have created more partisan anxieties as the Senate will most likely vote to acquit Trump against the House's wishes.
The tension between Trump and Pelosi was already hot as Pelosi voted in December to impeach Trump for his efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to open investigations into Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as Blavity previously reported.
