House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., tears her copy of President Donald Trump's s State of the Union address. Photo / AP
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., tears her copy of President Donald Trump's s State of the Union address. Photo / AP
The United States appears to be more bitterly divided than ever in the wake of Donald Trump's State of the Union address, with furious reactions coming from the left and the right.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel pointed out the high number of factually incorrect statements made by the president, superimposing a lie detector over a replay of part of Trump's speech.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., tears her copy of President Donald Trump's s State of the Union address. Photo / AP
Actor and comedian Sarah Silverman tweeted during Mr Trump's address to Congress that the 73-year-old is a "fearmongering pig".
Meanwhile a fuming Bette Midler, a frequent critic of Mr Trump, tweeted that she wished the president would "STFU" [shut the f*** up].
"Isn't it funny how STFU looks similar to SOTU?" she said.
"Don't you wish that #Jackass would STFU during SOTU?"
Actor John Cusack also took aim at Mr Trump, tweeting to his 1.6 million followers:
"Trump is literally lauding himself for kicking 7 million people off of food stamps and millions more off of welfare. He's proud that struggling families are struggling more. The GOP applauded him. SMH [shaking my head]."
The horror is the point The cruelty is the feature -@lsarsour: Trump is literally lauding himself for kicking 7 million people off of food stamps and millions more off of welfare. He’s proud that struggling families are struggling more. The GOP applauded him. SMH. #SOTU”
But it was Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi – the highest ranking Democrat – who said the most without uttering a word. Ms Pelosi tore up Mr Trump's speech moments after he finished.
The shock antics earned Ms Pelosi applause from Mr Trump's haters, but Republicans and his public supporters were ropeable.
Star Trek actor George Takei praised Ms Pelosi for taking away attention from what he described as the president's "lies".
"All I remember from the last SOTU was her iconic handclap. All I will take away from this one is her ripping up the speech. She does more without saying a damn word than Trump can do with 10,000 lies."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, centre, shakes hands with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, watches on before Trump delivers his State of the Union address. Photo / AP
Film maker Michael Moore tweeted his thanks to Ms Pelosi and dubbed her "Nancy the Ripper."
"Thank you. That felt good," Mr Moore wrote.
One thing is clear: @SpeakerPelosi knows how to capture a moment. All I remember from the last SOTU was her iconic handclap. All I will take away from this one is her ripping up the speech. She does more without saying a damn word than Trump can do with 10,000 lies.
But Former Republican senator Newt Gingrich said he was "disgusted" by Ms Pelosi's act.
"As Speaker of the House for four State of the Unions by a President of the other party I am disgusted and insulted by the viciously partisan action of Nancy Pelosi tearing up the speech," Mr Gingrich said.
"She isn't clever or cute her childishness insults our American traditions.[She] should be censured."
The hashtag #PelosiTantrum began trending on Twitter after Seth Harris, a Christian conservative, tweeted:
"The #PelosiTantrum is a tragic image of how divided our country is," and Mr Trump retweeted it to his followers.
Republican and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations said she was "disappointed" in Ms Pelosi'act.
President Donald Trump enters the House floor where he will give his State of the Union address. Photo / AP
"Disappointed to see @SpeakerPelosi rip up the speech that mentioned lives we've lost and heroes we celebrated at the SOTU.
"No matter how you feel or what you disagree with, remember others are watching. This was unbecoming of someone at her level in office."
As Speaker of the House for four State of the Unions by a President of the other party I am disgusted and insulted by the viciously partisan action of Nancy Pelosi tearing up the speech.She isn’t clever or cute her childishness insults our American traditions -should be censured.
This is what building bridges to the American people looks like.. The #PelosiTantrum is a tragic image of how divided our country is. pic.twitter.com/q2GjCEJgwn
Disappointed to see @SpeakerPelosi rip up the speech that mentioned lives we’ve lost and heroes we celebrated at the SOTU. No matter how you feel or what you disagree with, remember others are watching. This was unbecoming of someone at her level in office.
She later added it was "the courteous thing to do, considering the alternative."
Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo / AP
The ripping was not planned, according to a person close to the Democratic speaker who was unauthorised to speak publicly.
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo / AP
It came after Ms Pelosi had extended a hand to Mr Trump when he entered the chamber, but he refused to shake it.
The drama unfolded on the eve of Mr Trump's likely acquittal in the impeachment trial on Wednesday afternoon local time (Thursday AM).
