A bitter feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and top
Democrat Nancy Pelosi boiled over at his State of the Union speech on Tuesday,
with Trump denying her a handshake and Pelosi ripping apart a copy of his
remarks behind his back.
Trump avoided the subject of his impeachment drama in a
pugnacious 80-minute speech, but the scars from the battle were evident with
fellow Republicans giving him standing ovations while rival Democrats for the
most part remained seated.
The Republican-led Senate was expected to acquit him of
charges he abused his powers and obstructed Congress during a vote beginning at
4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) on Wednesday.
Seeing Pelosi, the U.S. House of Representatives speaker,
for the first time since she stormed out of a White House meeting four months
ago, Trump declined to shake her outstretched hand as he gave her a paper copy
of his remarks before starting to speak.
Despite having not spoken to Trump since their last meeting,
Pelosi appeared to be taken aback. She avoided citing the customary “high
privilege and distinct honor” that usually accompanies the speaker’s introduction
of the president to Congress.
“Members of Congress, the President of the United States”
was all she said in introducing Trump.
When his speech ended, Pelosi stood and tore up her copy of
the remarks he had handed her, later telling reporters it was “the courteous
thing to do, considering the alternative.”
Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, said of
Pelosi: “Her hatred for @realdonaldtrump has blinded her to the repulsive
nature of her smug, elitist behaviour.”
The tension was a sign that little legislative progress
should be expected with the presidential election nine months away. The
impeachment case has intensified bitter feelings between Trump and Pelosi that
have existed throughout his presidency.
As he began the speech, Republicans from both houses of
Congress chanted “four more years” while he stood at the lectern in the chamber
of the House.
Democrats sat silently and some could be seen shaking their
heads as Trump declared, “The state of our union is stronger than ever before.”
Pelosi, who dropped her opposition to impeachment and
allowed Democratic lawmakers to seek the charges against him, sat stoically and
grim-faced behind Trump and paged through a paper copy of his speech.
Trump entered the chamber with Democrats experiencing some
measure of chaos after technical glitches delayed the results of voting in Iowa
on Monday as the party seeks a nominee to face the incumbent Republican.
Trump presented himself as a big improvement over Democratic
President Barack Obama, whom he succeeded three years ago, saying he had
bolstered U.S. economic growth and increased jobs.
“In just three short years we have shattered the mentality
of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny,”
he said.
The House impeachment managers, acting as prosecutors in the
Senate impeachment trial, were seated together at the front of the Democrats’
section.
Many House Democratic women wore white for a second year in
a row, a sign of the suffragist movement that won women the right to vote 100
years ago. Several Democratic lawmakers refused to attend the annual speech to
protest Trump, such as liberal firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Trump, using the speech to lay out his vision for a second
four-year term, said a Democratic plan to expand government-funded health
insurance amounted to a “socialist takeover” that would bankrupt the country,
cut benefits for those who have them now and provide care to illegal
immigrants.
Democratic presidential candidates and many lawmakers have
proposed healthcare plans that would be run by the government, a sharp
departure from the current, private system in which millions of Americans
receive medical insurance from their employers.
Trump’s lack of a healthcare plan has left him open to
criticism that he has not put enough work into finding a way to reduce rising
insurance costs that burden middle-class Americans.
“We will never let socialism destroy American healthcare!”
Trump said.
Democratic women stood and chanted “HR 3” – a reference to a
Democratic bill that would lower drug costs.
In the Democratic response to Trump’s speech, Michigan
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in excerpts of her remarks: “Democrats are
trying to make your healthcare better. Republicans in Washington are trying to
take it away.”
Trump offered an upbeat portrayal of his presidency in hopes
of persuading Americans to give him another four-year term in the Nov. 3
election.He saluted surprise guest Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition
leader, and made cancer-stricken conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh an
immediate recipient of the presidential Medal of Freedom, Trump’s wife Melania
pinning the ribbon around Limbaugh’s neck.
Trump also revived his arguments that migrants should be
stopped from crossing the southern U.S. border and that so-called “sanctuary
cities” where migrants are protected are wrong. His immigration policies are opposed
by Democrats.
Pelosi could be seen shaking her head as Trump spoke of his
views on immigration.
After coming close to a broad conflict with Iran after he
ordered the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, Trump said,
“We are working to end America’s wars in the Middle East.”
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