Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who infamously tore up President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020, had to watch in frustrated silence from the House benches as he addressed Congress on Tuesday.
Pelosi, gripping her cane, resigned her leadership post after the 2022 congressional elections, in which Republicans retook the House. She had held a firm grip on power in her party — even after leading it to historic defeat in 2010.
In 2020, she was in the midst of an effort to impeach and remove President Trump from power. When he delivered a rousing speech that touched on themes of patriotism and national greatness, she responded by tearing up her copy.
Her gesture was celebrated by Democrats and the media as the ultimate statement of contempt for a man they hated.
But on Tuesday night, all she and other Democrats could do was to shake their canes — as Rep. Al Green (D-TX) did, before being ejected from the chamber — or attempt to heckle as Trump enjoyed his return to office in grand style.
Moreover, she had to endure it for a long time: Trump’s speech shattered the record for the longest-ever address to a joint session of Congress, speaking for one hour and 40 minutes, ad-libbing and taking his time with each phrase.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
