State of the Union: Speaker Pelosi’s partisan stunt is another gift to Trump

The State of the Union delivered by the President of the United States is a tradition as old as the country itself. Enshrined in the Constitution, it is the duty of the occupant of the White House to gather both Houses of Congress once a year in order to deliver an address on the state of the country. It usually provides a platform for an administration to promote its good works, preach its mission, and incite the US’s lawmakers to action.

This does not mean that the affair has to necessarily be bipartisan – but it is, at the very least, usually a dignified affair where the divisions of the political parties are present, but temporarily muted. The President is expected to present a particular vision of the American Republic and make a rallying cry for the state of the union to continue getting better.

The 2020 State of the Union, however, has been overshadowed by the rage which is dividing US Politics. For starters, President Donald Trump’s address has been delivered while he is still under trial for impeachment – even if he can expect an easy acquittal when the Senate votes on the matter later today.

Adding fuel to fire of partisanship were the actions of the Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, during the President’s address today. In a video which is now viral online, the Speaker of the House can be seen tearing up the transcript of the President’s speech at the end of the State of the Union.

When she was asked why she did so, Pelosi said that it was because she couldn’t find “one page with truth on it”. This reflects her awkward behaviour before and during the address itself – rather than introducing the President with the usual line, describing it as a “high privilege and distinct honour”, she simply said “Members of Congress, the President of the United States.” At least twice during the speech, which she read from a transcript throughout, she mouthed “not true”. She pulled faces, sarcastically repeated certain lines (“freedom unifies the soul”), and did her best to deflect attention towards her near-constant disapproval.

It is ultimately unclear what exactly Pelosi was trying to achieve. Tearing up the speech was probably intended to seem like a powerful, spontaneous act of civil disobedience. In realty, it smacked of a pre-prepared partisan stunt, one designed to make the address all about the Speaker of the House rather than the US President.

This is why there is a great irony in the statement Pelosi released afterwards, saying that her party would “welcome any opportunity to extend the hand of friendship to find common ground on behalf of the American people.” You cannot preach bipartisanship and act in such a nakedly partisan manner. She was playing to her own side’s prejudice just as Trump was performing to the Republican gallery.

The truth of the matter is that the State of the Union is not about Pelosi – it is not even only about Trump. Rather, it is a symbol of the office of the Presidency and of the unbroken continuity of American democracy. During the Obama years, the then Republican Speaker John Boehner would not express delight at everything the President proclaimed; but he would sit there, stoically, respecting the dignity of the President.

Trump may have demeaned the hallowed executive office, it is true – but the Speaker has no right to lower the highest role in Congress to his level. Trump the man might be an intensely divisive figure, but his office still commands respect.

There is a danger for the Democrats that Pelosi’s symbolism could backfire. Americans are proud of their country’s traditions, and they are proud of their political system. Where some metro liberals might see Pelosi’s actions as a defiant stand against post-truth Trump, it is likely that many more will take it as a disrespectful, even childish, dig at the Presidency itself. It could easily be made to look like the behaviour of someone who believes they are superior to the normal rules of political decorum.

In the end, the sort of stunt pulling and game playing that the Speaker’s behaviour represents may not be popular among exactly the types of patriotic, blue collar voters the Democrats badly need to win over in November.