House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s disastrous decision to shred a printed copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech drew widespread condemnation.
But now, the Democratic leader admits one of the event’s most heartwarming moments nearly stopped her from carrying out the stunt.
During a Saturday interview on CNN, Pelosi explained that her distaste of Trump’s speech overrode any reverence for a returning war hero, ultimately leading her to rip up a printed copy of the remarks on live television.
Pelosi told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that she tore the speech up due to the number of alleged lies on it.
“I thought if I can find a page that doesn’t have a falsehood on it, I’ll spare it, but I couldn’t find that,” Pelosi explained.
When Army Sgt. 1st Class Townsend Williams shocked his attending family by revealing that he had returned from Afghanistan, Pelosi said she hesitated.
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After all, the moment was downright magical.
Williams’ wife and young children were blown away and brought to tears by their returned soldier. The reunion made headlines, and quickly became an iconic moment in the address.
For Pelosi, the effect was fleeting.
“I almost did [find a page without a falsehood on it] when the soldier was coming home, that was so beautiful,” Pelosi said. “But get back to the bottom of the page and there [Trump] goes again.”
Although many have dismissed her shredding of Trump’s address as part of a furious tantrum, evidence hints it was planned well ahead of the actual action.
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Midway through the president’s speech, Pelosi can be seen starting tears on the pages, presumably to make her final act as smooth as possible.
The fallout from her behavior was devastating, and reporters hounded her about the move despite the House speaker’s obvious frustration with her mistake being headline news.
Putting a political show over our country’s own war heroes is a shocking new low for Pelosi, one that she is unlikely to live down for the rest of her career in office.
This brand of political showboating isn’t unique to the House speaker, and with the 2020 elections now in view, Democrats’ antics are virtually guaranteed to get worse.
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