Pelosi Fires Off on Reporter Asking About SOTU Tantrum: 'I Don't Need Any Lessons from Anybody'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still feeling the aftershocks of her tremendously bad idea to rip up a transcript of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address seconds after the speech had concluded Tuesday.
Now, even reporters run the risk of being snapped at by Pelosi when bringing up her tantrum.
This is exactly what CNN’s Manu Raju experienced when he decided to ask Pelosi about the stunt during a Thursday news conference.
“You often counsel your members to be dignified in their response, to take the high ground,” Raju began. “Did you step on that message by tearing up the speech?”
Before Raju could even finish his question, Pelosi jumped in.
“No I did not,” the House speaker said. “No I did not — I tore up a manifesto of mistruths.”
Pelosi then turned to chastise the reporters, complaining about how difficult it supposedly is to corral the free press into covering topics that make Democrats look good.
“It is very hard for us to get you to talk about the issues we are working on — H.R. 3, infrastructure and the rest,” Pelosi said as she slammed her hand on the podium.
H.R. 3 refers to a Democrat-sponsored bill that Pelosi claims will lower prescription drug prices.
The House speaker then launched into a tirade against Trump, proving her feelings on the president haven’t changed since her State of the Union tantrum.
“And I don’t need any lessons from anybody,” Pelosi continued, “especially the president of the United States, about dignity. Is it OK to start saying ‘four more years’ in the House of Representatives? It’s just unheard of. Is it unheard of for the president to insult people there who don’t share his view, as well as to misrepresent, present falsehoods?”
“Some would use the word lie — I don’t like to use the word lie — about what he is saying.”
Watch the full clip below:
.@SpeakerPelosi: “I tore up a manifesto of mistruths…It was necessary to get the attention of the American people, to say this is not true…And I don’t need any lessons from anybody, especially the president of the United States, about dignity.” pic.twitter.com/N4PLK1wGyG
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 6, 2020
Pelosi’s stunt, which looked to be planned and scripted instead of a spontaneous event, is sure to follow her around for the foreseeable future.
The speaker’s party was at the center of a failed attempt to remove Trump from office, a plot that likely didn’t earn Democrats many fans among independent voters not interested in partisan politics.
Unfortunately for Pelosi, this likely won’t be the last time she’s reminded of her disastrous decision to tear up a piece of history.
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