On Tuesday evening, President Trump delivered a strong State of the Union address that largely focused on good economic news everyone can appreciate. However, the speech’s actual content has largely been overshadowed in the days since — partly due to other breaking stories, but also because the drama from the State of the Union has taken center stage over the substance.
One moment from that night that went viral was Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up her written copy of the president’s speech after he finished. She dubiously claimed it was the “courteous” thing to do, saying the speech was “dirty.” She joined other Democrats in their rather extreme criticisms of what seemed a fairly benign speech to any objective observer whose brain isn’t clouded by partisan vitriol.
As @realDonaldTrump concludes his #SOTU address, @SpeakerPelosi rips up a copy of the speech he gave her before he began. pic.twitter.com/XpmULnEDz2
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 5, 2020
I certainly agree with conservative critics that Pelosi’s behavior was classless, uncalled for, and needlessly divisive. (Although, as my Washington Examiner colleague Madeline Fry noted, it’s a bit rich to hear calls for civility coming from people who admire Trump.)
Yet some of these critics are taking things way, way too far, and quickly entering the territory of conservative snowflakery.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for instance, told Fox News that he “will be filing charges against Nancy Pelosi in the House Ethics Committee.” The Florida Republican continued, “The law does not allow the speaker of the House to destroy the records of the House, and the rules of the House do not permit some little temper tantrum just because you don’t like what the president of the United States says.”
Gaetz is joined in his overreaction by fellow Republican Reps. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
I understand why they’re angry — Pelosi’s conduct was clearly classless and rude — but to claim she broke the law or deserves official sanction is ridiculous. It’s not illegal to pull a political stunt. If it were, Gaetz himself would be in some serious trouble. As far as “destroying official records” is concerned, it does not appear that this was an official House record. It was just a paper copy of Trump’s speech, provided as a courtesy for Pelosi to follow along.
Yes, Pelosi deserves criticism for her juvenile behavior. But when the same Republicans and conservatives who (rightly) cry foul over liberal political correctness and snowflakery wildly overreact to Democratic acts of incivility, they discredit the underlying merit of their complaints.
