~~~~ Nancy The Ripper

Nancy The Ripper

Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi rips a copy of President Trump's speech after he delivers the State of the Union address

Whoever. #NancyPelosi having:document,paper,or other thing,willfully and unlawfully conceals,mutilates,obliterates, falsifies,destroys the same,SHALL be FINED or IMPRISONED not more than three years,or both; and SHALL FORFIT his office AND BE DISQUALIFIED from holding ANY office.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/media/nancy-pelosi-speech-rip/index.html

The rip-seen-round-the-country totally overshadowed the official Democratic rebuttal address.

Around midnight, as cable commentators chewed on the meaning of the tear, Pelosi's office issued a statement that seemed to justify her action by pointing out some of the false claims Trump made.

"The manifesto of mistruths presented in page after page of the address tonight should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the President and policies worthy of his office and the American people," Pelosi said.

The president's defenders ignored the factual issues with Trump's speech and targeted Pelosi instead — Sean Hannity called the ripping moment "one of the most classless things ever done in the history of the State of the Union.‬"

In the morning, Fox commentator Jason Chaffetz said "I have never seen anybody act so childish in my life."

Ripping up a piece of paper is only a big story if members of the media decide to make it a big story, and if members of the public respond by reading and watching and reacting.