Trump had earlier before the speech rejected a handshake from Nancy Pelosi, and it is not certain if the speaker had taken her action as a revenge for snub by the President.
A source close to Pelosi later revealed that the speaker ripping up her copy of the speech was not planned and that Pelosi was angry at Trump’s address.
While it remains unclear whether the President avoided Pelosi’s handshake on purpose, tension between the White House and the California Democrat has heightened considerably in recent months after the House under Pelosi’s leadership investigated Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine. In December, House Democrats approved two articles of impeachment against Trump.
One of Trump’s adviser told reporters that by apparently ignoring Pelosi the President missed an opportunity to heal a divided nation.
“The country seems very, very divided but I think Trump made a mistake not shaking her hand,” the adviser said, while also faulting “the Democrats by being so silent and not clapping on even nonpartisan lines.” CNN reports.
When asked by reporters why she tore the speech, she said;
"It was the courteous thing to do given the alternative."
Midway through the speech, Nancy Pelosi was also seen subtly shaking her head when Trump pledged to protect Medicare and Social Security as well as rejecting his claim that Democrats want to provide "unlimited health care" for undocumented immigrants.
Recall that Pelosi presided over the House which impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in 2019.
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