'Goodbye': The story behind Pelosi's 'staged' meltdown

FPI / October 17, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stormed out of a White House meeting on Oct. 16 following a very public meltdown.

President Donald Trump said to Pelosi as she departed the meeting: “Goodbye, we’ll see you at the polls.”

Following the meeting, which was held to discuss Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, the president fired off a series of tweets, accompanied by photos of dire-looking Democrats, describing what had just occurred:

“Do you think they like me?”

“Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown!”

“The Do Nothing Democrats, Pelosi and Schumer stormed out of the Cabinet Room!”

Trump added: “Nancy Pelosi needs help fast! There is either something wrong with her “upstairs,” or she just plain doesn’t like our great Country. She had a total meltdown in the White House today. It was very sad to watch. Pray for her, she is a very sick person!”

Initial reports claimed Trump had called Pelosi a “third rate politician,” however it was later corrected to accurately report that he called her a “third grade politician.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also walked out of the meeting.

Radio and television host Mark Levin said it smelled of a “staged” walkout.

“I’ve had several discussions with the president over the course of a few years, and he’s a kibitzer, and he jokes and he needles, and as I wasn’t there, but (House Minority Leader) Kevin McCarthy and a number of Republicans were there, and they say it was Schumer and Pelosi, particularly Pelosi, who was rude to the president,” Levin said.

He added that Schumer and Pelosi are each a “serial pathological liar.”

“So even some of the Democrats stayed behind. And yet Pelosi and Schumer walked out. That’s how I know it’s staged — or all the Democrats would have walked out. But the media love it.”

McCarthy, California Republican, told reporters that once Pelosi left the meeting, things were “calmer and more productive.”

“I’ve been in a lot of meetings where individuals get heated with one another. I do not believe in that process, that you get up and you walk away,” McCarthy said. “The other Democrats did not walk away. They stayed in the room and you know what happened when Speaker Pelosi left the room it seemed calmer; it seemed much more productive.”

“This isn’t the first time that she [Pelosi] has done this. This isn’t the first time that I had to witness this,” he added.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham defended Trump's conduct as "measured, factual and decisive" and called Pelosi's decision to walk out "baffling, but not surprising."

"While Democratic leadership chose to storm out and get in front of the cameras to whine, everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room and work on behalf of this country," Grisham said in a statement.

Just prior to the meeting, the House passed a resolution in a 354-60 vote that rebuked Trump’s decision to retreat from Syria.

Pelosi is one of several supposedly anti-war Democrats who praised President Barack Obama’s move to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq who have suddenly become war hawks with Trump in the White House.

On June 30, 2009, Pelosi said in a statement: "Today marks a critical step toward the responsible withdrawal of American forces by December 2011 and the end of the war in Iraq, a war that tragically began more than six long years ago. This action is in keeping with the pledge made by President Obama and the Status of Forces agreement with the Iraqi government.”

When Trump announced he was keeping his pledge to bring the troops home from Syria, Pelosi referred to it as a “reckless, misguided decision.”

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters said in an Oct. 21, 2011 statement: “As the war in Iraq draws to a close, it is my hope that this conflict will serve as a solemn reminder of the costs of war. We must carefully reexamine our approach to national security and how we view the United States' role in promoting international peace and security. If we are to remain leaders in the world, we must always use our best judgment to determine when and how we engage other nations and other actors – particularly if we are considering the use of military force.”

Waters’ approach to the United States’ role in world affairs is similar to Trump’s recent warnings against “fighting other people’s wars.”

But, just two weeks ago, Waters slammed Trump for pulling U.S. troops out of northern Syria.

“If the United States abandons the Kurds, these courageous allies will never trust us again,” Waters said in a statement, adding that “Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds is a gift to Russia, Iran and ISIS.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the Democratic frontrunners for the 2020 presidential nomination, who claims he has been historically anti-war, was also critical of Trump’s Syria decision.

“You don’t turn your back on an ally that lost 11,000 troops fighting against terrorism through a tweet and a discussion with Erdogan,” Sanders told ABC.

This criticism came despite Sanders acknowledgment that “I am a strong opponent of endless wars.”

In 2011, Sanders backed Obama’s Iraq withdrawal, saying: “I applaud the president's decision and have been advocating that position for quite a while. Now is the time to bring our troops home, lower our military budget, and use those funds to create jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure and lowering our national debt."

Trump tweeted on Oct. 17: “I am the only person who can fight for the safety of our troops & bring them home from the ridiculous & costly Endless Wars, and be scorned. Democrats always liked that position, until I took it. Democrats always liked Walls, until I built them. Do you see what’s happening here?”

Free Press International