Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi conveyed that these are not normal times and that this is not a normal presidency in one simple gesture Tuesday night when she ripped up her copy of Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. As she told reporters on her way out of the speech, she did it “Because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.” But of course Pelosi had more to say about the speech, and having first literally ripped it, she then did so figuratively in a detailed statement.
“We had been told the President would have a positive message on health care,” Pelosi said, emphasizing the importance of health care to voters. “However, President Trump's address tonight gave no comfort to the 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions or the families struggling to afford the prescription drugs they need. Once again, President Trump was not truthful about his actions in court to destroy pre-existing condition protections. Once again, President Trump pulled his punch on his promise to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, which House Democrats delivered with the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, H.R.3.”
Pelosi sought to shift attention from Trump’s reality TV State of the Union to his real governing priorities: his budget, which will show “the stark reality of his agenda.”
“A federal budget should be a statement of our national values, and the President has sadly shown that he does not value the good health of the American people,” Pelosi continued. “Democrats continue to urge the President to abandon his assault on seniors and families and to join us to deliver real progress in lowering the price of prescription drugs and making the bold investments needed to rebuild America's infrastructure in a green and modern way.”
Trump’s “manifesto of mistruths,” Pelosi added, “should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the President and policies worthy of his office and the American people.”
Pelosi’s act of ripping up the paper Trump’s speech was printed on highlighted for viewers that these are not normal times—and the media, predictably, is more outraged about that than about Trump’s years of viciousness and lies that she was responding to. Her statement tells us where we should be looking now.