The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pelosi criticizes Trump, defends tearing speech
She says president will never rid scar of impeachment.
An indignant House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Thursday she was in no mood to reconcile with President Donald Trump and his congressional Republican allies a day after the Senate voted to acquit him of impeachment charges.
Instead, Pelosi criticized Trump’s State of the Union address, his economic and health care record, his response to the monthslong impeachment process, and the swipes he leveled Thursday morning at the National Prayer Breakfast at the faith of his political enemies.
And she defended her own decision to publicly tear up a copy of Trump’s speech Tuesday night in the moments after he concluded his speech, saying she did not “need any lessons from anybody, especially the president of the United States, about dignity.”
“It’s appalling the things that he says. And then you say to me: ‘Tearing up his falsehoods, isn’t that the wrong message?’ No, it isn’t,” she said, adding: “I feel very liberated. I feel that I’ve extended every possible courtesy. I’ve shown every level of respect.”
Those remarks came as the GOP continued using Pelosi’s shredding of the speech to fuel political attacks. House Republicans made plans to force a vote Thursday afternoon reprimanding Pelosi for her conduct, and one Republican congressman, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, said he would file an ethics complaint.
Earlier Thursday morning, at the Prayer Breakfast, Pelosi sat on the same dais as Trump as the president suggested his political enemies were being dishonest in invoking their faith in opposition to him.
Pelosi, a Catholic, says frequently that she prays for Trump, and, on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, cited his own deep Mormon faith in deciding to convict Trump on one of two impeachment articles — abuse of power.
Speaking to reporters, Pelosi bristled at Trump’s remarks: “He’s talking about things that he knows little about, faith and prayer.”
She praised Romney — “God bless him for his courage” — and called Trump’s remarks on him “particularly without class” then said her own prayers for the president were both genuine and needed.
“I pray hard for him because he’s so off the track of our Constitution, our values, our country, the air our children breathe, the water they drink and the rest,” she said. “He can say whatever he wants. But I do pray for him and I do so sincerely and without anguish.”
Pelosi said Trump will always be known as an impeached president, the third in the nation’s history.
“He’s impeached forever, no matter what he says,” Pelosi said. “You’re never getting rid of that scar. History will always record that you were impeached for undermining the security of our country, jeopardizing the integrity of our elections and violating the Constitution of the United States.”