Trump goes after Pelosi, Romney, and more 'very evil and sick people' in wild post-acquittal speech

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Image)

Two days after his closer-to-conventional State of the Union address, President Trump just delivered a ... different sort of speech.

After being officially acquitted in the Senate's impeachment trial, Trump on Thursday gave what he called "not a speech" but rather a "celebration," spending more than an hour riffing on impeachment related topics, thanking Republicans, and attacking various "horrible" people.

"Adam Schiff is a vicious, horrible person," Trump said. "Nancy Pelosi is a horrible person. ... I doubt she prays at all. And these are vicious people."

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Trump, of course, also went after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the only Republican senator to vote for his conviction, calling him a "failed presidential candidate" and suggesting he "used religion as a crutch."

While thanking Republicans, Trump, let's just say, went a bit off script. "He's obviously very proud of his body," he at one point said of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "I'm looking at those ears, and I say, those ears have something going on there." Later, he spoke for several minutes about Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) being shot in 2017 during practice for the Congressional Baseball Game, repeatedly emphasizing that he could have died.

"He got whacked," Trump said of Scalise. "He got whacked. My Steve. ... Honestly, I think you're better looking now. You're more handsome now. You weren't that good looking. You look good now."

Finally wrapping up at the end of the address — or "celebration," rather — that lasted about as long as a typical campaign rally, Trump said he wanted to "apologize to my family for having them have to go through a phony, rotten deal by some very evil and sick people."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.