--- title: Nancy Pelosi Ripping Trump's SOTU Speech Becomes Meme description: The moment when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up papers at the State of the Union made for the perfect meme and the reactions kept piling on. canonical: https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-05T09:31:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T08:52:49.417Z og:title: The Current State of the Internet Is Flowing With Memes of Pelosi Ripping Trump's Speech og:description: People couldn't resist the chance to make some jokes og:url: https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3171ed8e2d2e646/698a09cc656a3f61cfbd9a09/NancyPelosiStateoftheUnionPapers.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-TRUMP-SOTU og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Current State of the Internet Is Flowing With Memes of Pelosi Ripping Trump's Speech twitter:description: People couldn't resist the chance to make some jokes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3171ed8e2d2e646/698a09cc656a3f61cfbd9a09/NancyPelosiStateoftheUnionPapers.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Current State of the Internet Is Flowing With Memes of Nancy Pelosi Ripping President Trump's Speech at the State of the Union > 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=c66260a7-8efd-42b8-88c4-4986cc76d9d3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump’s State of the Union Address [Watch (HLS stream): Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump’s State of the Union Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bQOos5wF.m3u8) (0:52)  _Published 2020-02-05. As President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen ripping up a copy of the President’s speech._ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 5, 2020 9:31 AM UTC As President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen ripping up a copy of the President’s speech. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 5, 2020 9:31 AM UTC Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi inevitably became an instant [meme](https://time.com/5776445/super-bowl-2020-shakira-tongue/) when she ripped a transcript of President Donald Trump’s [State of the Union](https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/) speech. Trump spoke about a number of expected topics including the U.S. economy, trade agreements and immigration during the [State of the Union](https://time.com/5518859/state-of-the-union-2019-white/) on Tuesday night in the House chamber. And as he finished, cameras captured [Pelosi](https://time.com/5762021/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-gamble/) tearing up her papers. Why the ripping? “Because it was a manifesto of mistruths,” she told reporters afterward of the move. > [](https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1224921291901296641) The Speaker of the House has [gone all-in on opposing](https://time.com/5762021/nancy-pelosi-trump-impeachment-gamble/) Trump, and the President’s impeachment trial is expected to come to a close Wednesday afternoon, with Trump expected to be [acquitted](https://time.com/5777736/donald-trump-state-of-the-union/) by the Senate. **READ:** [Here Are the Facts Behind President Trump’s 2020 State of the Union Claims](https://new.time.com/preview/post/5777914/) Pelosi’s defiant move after Trump’s State of the Union afforded the Internet an instant flash point. Where some didn’t read much into it all, and others had [criticism to voice](https://twitter.com/fdejesusfebles/status/1224902725776920578), many on the internet saw joke potential and the Nancy Pelosi tearing papers [State of the Union meme was born](https://time.com/5522328/state-union-pelosi-clap-meme/). “me ripping up student loan late payment notices,” one user captioned the moment. > [](https://twitter.com/actualjack/status/1224923324943360000) “Me tearing up the chore list my mom would leave me during summer break,” another user joked. > [](https://twitter.com/koshiz/status/1224898642819067904) _Les Misérables_ was invoked. > [](https://twitter.com/MatthewKBegbie/status/1224922044304777216) > [](https://twitter.com/JoshMSilverman/status/1224899411899305985) > [](https://twitter.com/JackHam82623448/status/1224912131138695176) > [](https://twitter.com/MattOswaltVA/status/1224902262742384643) > [](https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1224908550863904768) > [](https://twitter.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1224913044037304320) > [](https://twitter.com/elielcruz/status/1224917414120501248) > [](https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1224898066374955008) > [](https://twitter.com/11thHour/status/1224896992897372160) > [](https://twitter.com/karinawesome/status/1224897527994093570) > [](https://twitter.com/jermyjpg/status/1224897343465627653) It wasn’t the only fun the internet had with Pelosi and papers of course. > [](https://twitter.com/RandyRainbow/status/1224888015073443843) At the State of the Union last year, Pelosi clapping was the major meme moment as Americans watching got down to captioning a photo snapped by New York _Times_ photographer Doug Mills. It captured, in a brief moment, Trump appearing to turn back to face Pelosi as she clapped with outstretched arms. The jokes ranged from silly to pointed. > [](https://twitter.com/theferocity/status/1092989722178265088) > [](https://twitter.com/AsteadWesley/status/1092985204837441543) > [](https://twitter.com/colincampbell/status/1092981451266641920) > [](https://twitter.com/courtneyabree/status/1092989926482812928) The internet took it as a clapback. But interestingly, Pelosi emphasized in interviews the following day that in that precise moment she was showing genuine support at the time for his statements. Trump had just delivered this line: “We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good.” The message of bipartisan cooperation was one the Democratic leader could get behind at that point in time, and said she did so with her clap. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/"},"headline":"The Current State of the Internet Is Flowing With Memes of Nancy Pelosi Ripping President Trump's Speech at the State of the Union","datePublished":"2020-02-05T09:31:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T08:52:49.417Z","description":"The moment when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore up papers at the State of the Union made for the perfect meme and the reactions kept piling on.","url":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","onetime","overnight","clickmonsters"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3171ed8e2d2e646/698a09cc656a3f61cfbd9a09/NancyPelosiStateoftheUnionPapers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3171ed8e2d2e646/698a09cc656a3f61cfbd9a09/NancyPelosiStateoftheUnionPapers.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-SOTU","caption":"Nancy Pelosi tearing papers at State of the Union","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/","name":"The Current State of the Internet Is Flowing With Memes of Nancy Pelosi Ripping President Trump's Speech at the State of the Union"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump’s State of the Union Address","description":"As President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen ripping up a copy of the President’s speech.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bQOos5wF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-02-05T03:55:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bQOos5wF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/","duration":"PT52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5765502/state-of-the-union-nancy-pelosi-rips-paper-memes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```