President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi clashed in two stunning moments at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, when Trump appeared to ignore Pelosi’s attempt at a handshake and she later ripped up her copy of his speech after he concluded.
The frosty exchanges came on the eve of the Senate’s expected acquittal of Trump in his impeachment trial, which was sparked by House Democrats’ investigations of Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine. It’s unclear whether Trump avoided Pelosi’s handshake on purpose, and a source close to the House speaker told CNN’s Dana Bash the decision to tear up the speech wasn’t planned but was sparked by her anger at the address.
The moments were unmistakable signs of the deteriorating relationship between the two leaders, who hadn’t communicated with each other in months, as well as the increasing partisan rancor in Washington following the five-month impeachment saga and the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
A Trump adviser told CNN’s Jim Acosta that by apparently ignoring Pelosi the President missed an opportunity to heal a divided nation.
“The country seems very, very divided but I think Trump made a mistake not shaking her hand,” the adviser said, while also faulting “the Democrats by being so silent and not clapping on even nonpartisan lines.”
Following the speech, Pelosi tweeted, “Democrats will never stop extending the hand of friendship to get the job done #ForThePeople. We will work to find common ground where we can, but will stand our ground where we cannot.”
Pelosi confirmed to CNN earlier Tuesday that she hasn’t spoken to the President since the infamous White House Syria meeting in October, following which the White House released a picture of her standing up and pointing at him, which she immediately owned and placed prominently on her Twitter page.
“You mean where he circulated the picture of my saying ‘All roads lead to Putin,’ that one? Is that what we’re talking about? … We haven’t spoken since then,” Pelosi said.
Social media reactions to Nancy Pelosi and Donald Trump clash
Donald Trump literally said he enjoys grabbing vaginas without consent but please go on about Nancy ripping up a speech from a racist which was full of lies. #PelosiTantrum
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 5, 2020
Vice President Pence is the parent who smartly ignores the child’s tantrum #PelosiTantrum pic.twitter.com/yjMhiKTX59
— Michele (@micheIUP) February 5, 2020
#PelosiTantrum Michelle Obama: “ When they go low we go high
Nancy Pelosi: When they go low we go lower pic.twitter.com/sAwICR2qar
— Zred (@MamuAsh) February 5, 2020
They call us snowflakes for wanting to impeach a president for bribing a foreign country into helping him cheat in an election, but they cry about Nancy Pelosi ripping up a speech filled with lies and hatred.
It's not a #PelosiTantrum!
You gotta love the Conservative Tears!
— Ms. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) February 5, 2020
Someone stitched together one hell of a campaign graphic. #PelosiTantrum pic.twitter.com/akRXQ9hVgg
— Mark Winslow (@WinstonUK) February 5, 2020
Republicans when Trump is being disrespectful ?Republicans when Nancy rips up a piece of paper
#PelosiTantrum pic.twitter.com/FiQvjqXsaq— Ashley (@Nicole24263390) February 5, 2020
Here’s what she tore up… #PelosiTantrum pic.twitter.com/epAjDmjS4D
— Rob Barnett (@barney21477) February 5, 2020
It is hilarious to see Speaker Pelosi so #Classless and #Broken. They know 2020 is gone. Who is their hero Pete Buttigieg? Ok. They know it's over and they cannot stand it. #PelosiTantrum #PettyPelosi.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) February 5, 2020
It is hilarious to see Speaker Pelosi so #Classless and #Broken. They know 2020 is gone. Who is their hero Pete Buttigieg? Ok. They know it's over and they cannot stand it. #PelosiTantrum #PettyPelosi.
— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) February 5, 2020
The lack of communication between Trump and Pelosi is especially striking given the high-profile events that have taken place since that time, including the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
On Sunday, Trump said he will likely have a difficult time working with Democrats after the impeachment trial wraps.
“I’d like to, but it’s pretty hard when you think about it, because it’s been — I use the word witch hunt, I use the word hoax. I see the hatred. I see the — they don’t care about fairness, they don’t care about lying,” Trump told Fox News.
“You look at the lies, you look at the reports that were done that were so false. The level of hypocrisy. I’m not sure that they can do it, to be honest. I think they just want to win, and it doesn’t matter how they win.”
