House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump “looked a little sedated” ahead of his State of the Union Address.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, suggested on Thursday that she moved to “extend a hand of friendship,” ahead of the Monday speech in part because she was concerned about the president’s demeanor.
“It was also an act of kindness because he looked to me like he was a little sedated,” Pelosi told reporters.
She added, “He looked that way last year too.”
It’s not the first time Trump’s detractors have accused him of being under the influence of some kind of drug.
Obama White House spokesman Josh Earnest once said Trump “snorted his way” through some of the debates during his 2016 campaign. Ernest later said he was joking.
Pelosi did not qualify her remarks about Trump’s state of mind during his Tuesday night address to Congress.
The two leaders have not spoken in months.
The House voted to impeach Trump in December. The Senate acquitted him on Wednesday.
Pelosi denounced Trump’s State of the Union speech and tore it up after Trump was done speaking but before he walked out of the chamber. The image and video of her tearing up the address have gone viral.
So has a clip of Trump, ahead of the speech, turning away from Pelosi’s extended hand after handing her a copy of his remarks.
It’s not clear whether Trump saw her outstretched hand. He did not shake the hand of Vice President Mike Pence, who was sitting beside Pelosi.
“He didn’t want to shake hands,” Pelosi said. That was that. That meant nothing to me. It had nothing to do with my tearing up [the speech].
Pelosi said she used her speed-reading skills to read the speech quickly.
“I went right through that thing,” she said. ”I knew what was coming.”
