--- title: Pelosi and Schumer Awkwardly Shared a Podium to Rebut Trump description: Many viewers were distracted by the single podium that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer shared for their speech canonical: https://time.com/5497640/nancy-pelosi-chuck-schumer-split-podium/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-09T03:07:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:19:28.641Z og:title: Pelosi and Schumer Awkwardly Shared a Podium to Rebut Trump og:description: Some viewers jokingly compared the Democratic leadership to disappointed parents og:url: https://time.com/5497640/nancy-pelosi-chuck-schumer-split-podium/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt123f5a9acf718667/698942eee76ad2c22c633f0c/gettyimages-1079458934.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-BORDER-TRUMP-CONGRESS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pelosi and Schumer Awkwardly Shared a Podium to Rebut Trump twitter:description: Some viewers jokingly compared the Democratic leadership to disappointed parents twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt123f5a9acf718667/698942eee76ad2c22c633f0c/gettyimages-1079458934.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 04:50 video:published: 2019-01-09 section: politics topics: government shutdown, border wall, border security, immigration, federal workers, Oval Office address, bipartisan legislation, humanitarian challenge genre: political rebuttal, speech tones: combative, urgent, critical, measured emotions: anger (medium), concern (high), frustration (medium) sentiment: negative audience: voters, policy observers, federal workers, political news readers people: Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Donald Trump organizations: House of Representatives, Senate, U.S. government content_suitability: politics [00:00-04:50]; financial distress [01:03-01:08]; financial distress [03:31-03:46]; health controversy [00:16-00:20] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # People Can't Stop Sharing Jokes About Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer Sharing One Podium > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=cb95f64f-2c3e-4879-8966-171eddfcdbec&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Democrats' Response to President Trump's Oval Office Address [Watch (HLS stream): Democrats' Response to President Trump's Oval Office Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cBdk0WCQ.m3u8) (4:50)  _Published 2019-01-09. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a sharp rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address on the border wall Tuesday night._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer deliver back-to-back rebuttals to President Trump's Oval Office address on border security and the government shutdown. Pelosi argues the shutdown is hurting workers and that border security can be improved without the wall, while Schumer argues the president used the address to manufacture a crisis. Both call on the president to reopen the government and separate the shutdown from the border security debate. ## Key points - Pelosi says House Democrats passed Senate Republican legislation on the first day of Congress to reopen government and fund border security solutions. (00:20) - Pelosi says the president is rejecting bipartisan bills to reopen government because of his push for a border wall. (00:38) - Pelosi says 800,000 workers, many of them veterans, are having their paychecks withheld during the shutdown. (01:03) - Pelosi lists alternatives such as building port of entry infrastructure, installing scanning technology for drugs, and hiring trade and immigration personnel. (01:23) - Pelosi describes women and children at the border as a humanitarian challenge rather than a security threat. (01:43) - Schumer says the president failed to get Mexico to pay for the wall and could not convince Congress or the public to fund it, so he shut down the government. (02:19) - Schumer says federal workers are about to miss a paycheck and some families and farmers face difficulty obtaining mortgages and loans. (03:31) - Schumer says the president used the Oval Office backdrop to manufacture a crisis and divert attention from turmoil in his administration. (03:53) - Schumer proposes that the president reopen the government now and continue negotiating border security separately. (04:36) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 01:49] Pelosi's rebuttal on the shutdown. Speaker Pelosi criticizes the president's claims, argues the shutdown harms workers, and lists alternative border security measures. - [01:49 to 02:04] Pelosi on the humanitarian challenge. Pelosi describes women and children at the border as a humanitarian challenge and calls for the government to reopen. - [02:04 to 03:02] Schumer on the shutdown as leverage. Schumer says the president is using the shutdown as leverage after failing to get the wall funded and appealing to fear. - [03:02 to 04:05] Schumer on separating shutdown from border debate. Schumer proposes separating the shutdown from border security talks and describes the financial impact on federal workers and families. - [04:05 to 04:50] Schumer's closing call to reopen government. Schumer calls on the president to reopen the government and resolve border security differences afterward. ## Key quotes - [01:03] Nancy Pelosi: "the paychecks of 800. 000 innocent workers across the nation, many of them veterans." - [02:19] Chuck Schumer: "American democracy doesn't work that way, we don't govern by temper tantrum" - [03:53] Chuck Schumer: "To manufacture a crisis, stoke fear and divert attention from the turmoil in his administration." - [04:36] Chuck Schumer: "The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30 foot wall." ## Questions this video answers - Why did the government shut down according to Democratic leaders? [02:19] - How many workers are affected by the shutdown and their paychecks? [01:03] - What alternatives to the border wall do Democrats propose? [01:23] - How do Democrats say the shutdown is affecting Americans beyond federal workers? [03:31] - What do Democrats want the president to do to end the shutdown? [04:36] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-04:50]: Entire video is partisan political commentary on the shutdown and border wall. - financial distress [01:03-01:08]: References 800,000 workers missing paychecks during the shutdown. - financial distress [03:31-03:46]: Describes federal workers missing paychecks and families unable to get mortgages or loans. - health controversy [00:16-00:20]: Accuses the president of misinformation and malice; a contested political claim. by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 9, 2019 3:07 AM UTC House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered a sharp rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s Oval Office address on the border wall Tuesday night. by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 9, 2019 3:07 AM UTC House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a stinging rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s [prime-time address](http://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/) Tuesday night, but many viewers were more consumed by the speech’s strange, double-headed visuals than its political message. Speaking side-by-side from behind a single podium, the Democratic leaders [accused](http://time.com/5497590/nancy-pelosi-chuck-schumer-trump-transcript/) Trump of “manufacturing” an [immigration crisis](http://time.com/5496179/mike-pence-donald-trump-border-wall-proposal-shutdown-democrats/) and called on him to [re-open the government](http://time.com/5496179/mike-pence-donald-trump-border-wall-proposal-shutdown-democrats/). While the shared staging was perhaps intended to convey Democrats’ solidarity against Trump’s immigration policies, many social media pundits were distracted by its “bizarre-looking, two-headed” optics, and they weren’t shy about sharing their feedback. > [](https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1082823117787979777) > [](https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1082824616001835009) > [](https://twitter.com/waynejung/status/1082826873124589568) **Read more**: [_Read the Full Transcript of President Trump’s Oval Office Address on the Border Wall_](http://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/) Some noted that the doubled delivery made Pelosi and Schumer look like admonishing parents, and the jokes piled on. > [](https://twitter.com/AaronFlux/status/1082824246999437312) > [](https://twitter.com/erinscafe/status/1082825458490593282) > [](https://twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1082824274543554566) Other commenters made reference to the [ongoing government shutdown](http://time.com/5494109/shutdown-third-longest-us-history/), suggesting the single-podium setup was the result of scant federal funding. > [](https://twitter.com/BrendanMJoyce/status/1082825117380628480) > [](https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/1082823287451865093) The comic merit of the Democrats’ speech is likely to persist, Twitters users noted, offering an image for satirists that may be too good to resist. > [](https://twitter.com/ClareMalone/status/1082823444994187264) ## Transcript [00:00] Good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak [00:04] directly to the American people tonight about how we [00:07] can end this shutdown and meet the needs of the [00:10] American people. Sadly, much of what we heard from [00:13] President Trump throughout this senseless shutdown [00:16] has been full of misinformation And even malice. The [00:20] President has chosen fear. We will start with the facts. [00:25] The fact is, on the very first day of this Congress House [00:28] Democrats passed Senate Republic legislation to [00:31] re- open government and fund smart, effective border [00:35] security solutions. But the President is rejecting these [00:38] bipartisan bills which would reopen government over [00:42] his obsession with forcing American taxpayers to waste [00:46] billions of dollars on an expensive and ineffective wall, [00:50] a wall he always promised Mexico would pay for. The [00:54] fact is, President Trump has chosen to hold hostage [00:57] critical services for the health, safety and wellbeing of [01:00] the American people, and withhold the paychecks of [01:03] 800. 000 innocent workers across the nation, many [01:08] of them veterans. He promised to keep Government [01:11] shutdown for months or years. No matter whom it [01:14] hurts, that's just plain wrong. The fact is, we [01:18] all agree we need to secure our borders while [01:21] honoring our values. We can build the infrastructure [01:23] modes at our ports of entry. We can install new [01:26] technology to scan cars and trucks for drugs coming [01:30] into our nation. We can hire the personnel we need to [01:33] facilitate trade And immigration at the border. We can [01:36] fund more innovation to detect unauthorized crossings. [01:39] The fact is women and children at the border [01:43] are not a security threat. They are a humanitarian [01:47] challenge, a challenge that President Trump's own [01:49] cruel and counterproductive policies have only [01:53] deepened. And the fact is President Trump must stop [01:56] holding American people hostage, stop manufacturing [02:00] a crisis, and must reopen the government. Thank [02:04] you. Leader Schumer. Thank you, Speaker Pelosi. My [02:09] fellow Americans, we address you tonight for one [02:12] reason only. The president of the United States, having [02:16] failed to get Mexico to pay for his ineffective, [02:19] unnecessary border wall, and unable to convince the [02:22] congress or the American people to foot the bill, has [02:26] shut down the government. American democracy [02:29] doesn't work that way, we don't govern by temper [02:32] tantrum No President should pound the table and [02:36] demand he gets his way or else the government shuts [02:39] down, hurting millions of Americans who are treated as [02:43] leverage. Tonight and throughout this debate and [02:47] throughout his presidency, President Trump has [02:50] appealed to fear, not facts. Division, not [02:54] unity. Make no mistake, Democrats and the [02:58] President both want stronger border security, however [03:02] we sharply disagree with the President about the most [03:06] effective to do it. So, how do we untangle this [03:10] mess, well there's an obvious solution Separate [03:14] the shutdown from arguments over border security. [03:18] There is bipartisan legislation, supported by [03:21] Democrats and Republicans to reopen government [03:24] while allowing debate over border security to continue. [03:27] There is no excuse for hurting millions [03:31] of Americans over a policy difference. Federal workers [03:35] are about to miss a paycheck. Some families can't get [03:38] a mortgage to buy a new home. Farmers in small [03:41] businesses won't get loans they desperately need. [03:46] Most presidents have used Oval Office addresses for [03:49] noble purposes. This president just used the [03:53] backdrop of the Oval Office. To manufacture a crisis, [03:57] stoke fear and divert attention from the turmoil [04:01] in his administration. My fellow Americans, there [04:05] is no challenge so great that our nation cannot rise to [04:09] meet it. We can reopen the government and continue [04:12] to work through disagreements over policy. We can [04:16] secure our border without an ineffective, expensive [04:19] wall. And we can welcome legal immigrants and [04:22] refugees, without compromising safety and security. [04:28] The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, [04:32] not a 30 foot wall. So our suggestion is [04:36] a simple one. Mr. President, reopen the government [04:41] and we can work to resolve our differences over [04:43] border security but end this shutdown now. 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