You can’t tell me no
Trump has written a letter to Pelosi saying he’s going to give the State of the Union speech in the House (the one she’s the Speaker of) even though she told him he couldn’t. He’s not going to let any mere woman tell him what to do. Never mind that it’s her job and it’s also his job, he’s not going to do it, because women. He wouldn’t let her talk when she and Schumer met with him and he’s not going to let her tell him no.
Except he can’t do anything about it.
President Trump’s letter to Speaker Pelosi on the State of the Union pic.twitter.com/B4QN9hDJnv
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) January 23, 2019
So @realDonaldTrump keeps framing the SOTU as an "address to the nation."
Technically, it's not. It's a speech delivered to a joint session of Congress, and it can't happen without both chambers passing a concurrent resolution. https://t.co/jmylWSsCoP
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) January 23, 2019
He really doesn’t know how this works.
I personally look forward to him finding out that Pelosi absolutely can — and if the Government isn’t open, will — refuse to allow him to give the SOTU from the House Chamber. https://t.co/qXAoMZBq3L
— Angry Staffer (@AngrierWHStaff) January 23, 2019
Is anyone really surprised Trump is going to force himself on the American public without getting proper consent from a woman? #SOTU
— Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) January 23, 2019
As much as I detest the Orange One, it’s certainly one way to deal with a disinvitation. Just blow off the concerns and turn up regardless.
A bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see how it plays out. (Didn’t work out well for Charles I)
I would love to see the spectacle of POTUS being removed from the House Chambers as a trespasser. That would be fun. But I suppose it is more likely she would just refuse to recognize him, so he would not get the podium (which you notice I did not put in scare quotes).
Pelosi has already responded.
There is of course no Constitutional requirement for the SOTU, let alone a timeline (as Trump implies (“on time and on schedule(!)”)). All the Constitution says is that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union.” No mention of timeline or medium or venue.
Personally I’d prefer we scrap the silly exercise and go back to the pre-Wilsonian tradition of the President sending over the information in writing.
Or Tweet? (Not that pre-Wilson presidents ever tweeted, but then, none of them would ever have used covfefe as a word, either. They were literate).
Ack, screwed up the quote from Trump a bit. “On time, on schedule.”
Tweets would be brilliant.
Tweets from a stable genius couldn’t be anything but, could they? ;-)
I’ve always wanted to see the President say something like this in the SOTU: “And the state of the union is…. Massachusetts! Massachusetts, come on down!”
Trump would be just the person to pull that off.
Right now it would be more “The state of the Union is pretty much stuffed.”
As I understand it, the SOTU is given at a joint session of Congress, and there is no joint session unless both chambers enter a resolution to create one. So Doofus could walk into an empty chamber at the usual time, or maybe the Senate would show up or something, and deliver the SOTU, or he can deliver the STFU. (Forgive me, that joke has been rattling around in my head, I finally had an opportunity to use it.)