White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) sour expression at President Trump's State of the Union during an appearance on CNN on Wednesday. "I think that Nancy Pelosi looks like that all the time," Sanders told CNN's Chris Cuomo. "I think she should smile a lot more often. I think the country would be better for it."
Sanders added that Pelosi "seems to kind of embody the bitterness that belongs in the Democrat party right now."
Sanders wasn't the only one who noticed Pelosi's visage. "When Trump said he created 2 million jobs, Pelosi shook her head," observed Politico. "Pelosi shook her head when Trump said America is seeing rising wages again. Pelosi and [Democratic Whip Steny] Hoyer shook their heads a lot during Trump's remarks, looking befuddled for much of the speech."
Pelosi is not the first woman politician to have her smile, or lack thereof, become a point of scrutiny. "An angry or serious man evokes an image of passion and determination, whereas with a woman it is seen as a sign of derangement or loss of control," observed one Atlantic commenter in response to criticism over Hillary Clinton seeming too cheerful at a 2016 presidential debate.
Watch Sanders' comments below. Jeva Lange