Pelosi unleashes a 'tear-able' pun to explain why she ripped up Trump's speech

(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

published 5 February 2020

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) got her gifable moment of the year Tuesday night when, after President Trump finished his State of the Union, she promptly ripped the speech up behind his head. She was happy to defend her decision that night, and, when asked about it again on Wednesday, broke out a solid pun to explain how she prepared for the big moment while Trump was still speaking.

"I didn't go in there to tear up the speech," Pelosi said Wednesday. "But I'm a speed reader," Pelosi continued, and once she realized Trump was "selling a bill of goods like a snake oil salesman," she "started to stack my papers in a way that were tear-able — and terrible." That facilitated an optimal rip once Trump was through.

Pelosi worked out a few more catchy defenses of the tear during a closed-door meeting with her caucus on Wednesday, sources in the room told Politico. "He shredded the truth, so I shredded his speech," Pelosi reportedly said, adding that the move made her feel "liberated."

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.