House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) stole the spotlight as President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address came to a close on Tuesday when she stood and dramatically ripped her copy of the president’s prepared remarks in half — and on Wednesday, the hosts of Fox News’ The Five didn’t hold back when sharing their thoughts on the speaker’s antics.
According to Fox, anchor Dana Perino suggested Wednesday that Pelosi’s move marked her “final act” of resistance as House speaker. Some have speculated that Democrats are likely to lose the House in November’s elections, forcing Pelosi out of the speakership.
“Her final act as speaker at the State of the Union was to rip up the president’s speech,” Perino told her co-hosts Wednesday, according to Fox. “I think this will be the second paragraph in all the literature that is written about her in the future.”
What motivated Pelosi?
There has been some speculation over whether Pelosi’s choice to rip apart Trump’s speech was just a spur of the moment display of frustration, or if her actions were part of a predetermined plan to send a message to Democrats and the American people.
For her part, Perino noted Wednesday the context of Trump and Pelosi’s “strained relationship” — they reportedly haven’t spoken since October — suggesting that their “quite broken” bond may have played a major factor in Pelosi’s behavior. The Fox host went on to list two other possible motivators behind Pelosi’s antics.
“If she did it spontaneously, it’s like, sometimes you get so mad and frustrated you want to rip something, break a pen,” Perino surmised. “Or…it was planned all along and she knew she was going to do it and she did it on purpose so the cameras could catch it and she wanted to make a statement.”
Either way, Perino said, Pelosi may have wanted to make a show of the whole thing — after all, this very well could be her last State of the Union as House speaker.
“I think she knows that’s probably her last State of the Union where she sits there,” Perino said of Pelosi Wednesday. “Because, one, there’s an election [and] you never know what can happen, like if Republicans come back, then she wouldn’t be the speaker. But I also think, remember in 2018 when she won, she basically [gave us] a wink and a nod that she would not run again.”
Are Pelosi’s days in power numbered?
As Perino noted, it’s unclear what exactly was behind Pelosi’s behavior — but Trump’s allies haven’t wasted any time in condemning it.
“What is wrong with her? Who mutters to themselves through a State of the Union?” Kellyanne Conway told America’s Newsroom on Wednesday, according to RealClearPolitics. She went on to say “there ought to be a Senate resolution denouncing her behavior last night.”
Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen. In the meantime, Pelosi should spend the next few months living up her time as House speaker.
If Perino is right, her days in the speakership are numbered — and coming to a close sooner than later.
