House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Passes Out Souvenir Pens After Impeachment Signing
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signed the two articles of impeachment against President Trump at Capitol Hill with multiple pens, she handed out the pens to the impeachment managers like souvenirs.
She did not appear “solemn” and “somber,” but smiled often while signing the papers. Afterwards, Pelosi and her team of impeachment managers and committee chairs posed with their commemorative pens for photos.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham criticized the House Speaker’s behavior.
“Nancy Pelosi’s souvenir pens served up on silver platters to sign the sham articles of impeachment,” Grisham tweeted, with a photo. “Pelosi was so somber as she gave them away to people like prizes.”
Nancy Pelosi’s souvenir pens served up on silver platters to sign the sham articles of impeachment...She was so somber as she gave them away to people like prizes. https://t.co/RMOiNeoMu0
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) January 15, 2020
Nancy Pelosi has souvenir pens emblazoned with her signature that she’s using to sign the articles of impeachment pic.twitter.com/Xte3yH45vj
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 15, 2020
CNN’s pundits called Pelosi’s actions “jarring” and “unusual.”
“It was unusual to see that kind of ceremony and handing out the pens, and smiling for a picture in this kind of situation where the House speaker has bent over backwards to say publicly and privately, ‘This is somber, this is not a time for celebration,’” said CNN’s Dana Bash. “Understandable, this is history and the people involved want to mark the moment, but I didn’t expect to see that.”
Nia-Malika Henderson agreed, “You heard Nancy Pelosi say that this is a sad and tragic day, and then there she is holding up the pen and having photographs taken with those pens, so it is a little off-message for somebody who has tried to set a very serious tone and there she is posing for the photographs with the pen.”
Watch:
CNN panel bashes Nancy Pelosi for handing out impeachment pens. It was a “jarring” “celebration” pic.twitter.com/oQlI8tgIW0
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 15, 2020
Back in November in a press conference, the House Speaker said, “This is something we do with a heavy heart. This is very prayerful. Because impeaching is a divisive thing in our country.”
Watch:
Rep. Maxine Waters(D-CA) was all smiles to get her commemorative pen.
Pen in the air.
— Michael Benny (@MichaelBenny) January 15, 2020
@RepMaxineWaters who has been calling for @realDonaldTrump’s Inpeachment for just about ever, gets one of the pens @SpeakerPelosi used to sign the Articles. pic.twitter.com/zt30t8uk6c