House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was supposed to be looking forward to a nice retirement, having saved the Democratic Party and the country from President Trump. But that’s not exactly how things are unfolding.
No wonder she’s acting out these days.
The typically cool, calm, and collected Pelosi has twice in the last week nearly shattered to the floor in pieces, understandably frustrated with the embarrassing state of her party.
She must have known when she ostentatiously ripped up a copy of Trump’s State of the Union address that she looked like an embittered, aging, queen of rage. And when she was asked about it during her weekly press conference on Thursday, her initial response was subdued, if ludicrous.
“I think it was completely, entirely appropriate,” she said. “And considering some of the other exuberances within me, the courteous thing to do.”
She could have left it at that, but all Pelosi needed was the slightest nudge to send her over the edge. A reporter then asked her if she would decline to invite Trump back next year for another State of the Union address. After all, she had said that his most recent one was “a manifesto of mistruths.”
What followed was a minute and 45 seconds of grief — an extended confession of pent-up suffering.
“It’s appalling the things that he says, and then you say to me, tearing up his falsehoods, ‘Isn’t that the wrong message?’” she said, gripping the podium. “No, it isn’t. It’s just — I have tried to be gracious with him. I’m always dignified. I thought that was a dignified act compared to my other exuberances, as I said. But we will not allow any president to use that Capitol, that chamber of the House of Representatives, of the people’s House, as a backdrop for him.”
Pelosi went on to complain about the number of guests Trump acknowledged at the address, about the fact that the cancer patient he highlighted was Rush Limbaugh rather than Rep. John Lewis, and about how Trump looked “sedated” when he neglected to shake her hand upon arrival at the Capitol.
What’s wrong, Nancy?!
The display of the once-confident and unbothered Pelosi laying out all of her hardships and resentments was stunning.
But it made sense. The party that Pelosi has been trying to save is collapsing.
The Iowa caucuses have humiliated the Democratic National Committee. Democrats’ presidential field is shockingly weak. Most of the 2020 presidential candidates are crashing, even as latecomer Michael Bloomberg, who isn’t even a real Democrat, is rising. Impeachment was a bust. Trump’s State of the Union address was a home run.
There’s a lot for Pelosi to be upset about. It’s just a shock that she’s made it so apparent.
