President Trump claimed it was illegal for Nancy Pelosi to destroy her copy of the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night.
Pelosi, 79, sparked controversy when she ripped a copy of Trump’s speech right behind his back. Many Republicans criticized her for tearing the speech. Trump took it an extra step and said Pelosi’s actions were illegal.
“I thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech,” Trump, 73, told reporters on Friday. “First of all, it’s an official document. You’re not allowed. It’s illegal what she did. She broke the law, but I haven’t been asked a question other than a lot of people that viewed it, they couldn’t believe that she did it. I thought it was terrible, I thought it was very disrespectful to the chamber, to the country.”
Trump added: “I got very high marks on the speech. I didn’t know she did it until I was walking out, and some of the congressmen and women were saying, ‘Can you believe what she did?’ But I didn’t know she did it.”
A number of Trump’s Republican allies in Congress have pledged to take action against Pelosi after she ripped up her paper copy of the speech. The Democrat-led House voted down a Republican resolution condemning Pelosi for the stunt.
Talking to reporters in front of the White House on Friday, Trump called Democrats “crazy,” adding, “There’s a lot of evil on that side.”
He said he believed the administration has gotten a lot done, despite pushback from Democrats. When asked if he plans to work with Democrats following impeachment, he responded, “I do work with Democrats.”
“I work with everybody, but that group is, you know, they say Trump derangement syndrome. They’ve got it,” Trump said. “They’ve got a bad case of it. You saw that. That was on display the other night when she ripped up the speech.”
