After the news broke that Donald Trump intends to declare a national emergency at the same time he signs the compromise bill wending its way to his desk, Nancy Pelosi held a press conference where she plainly illlustrated the costs of his weak, spineless move.
After all, it's not every day that a President throws himself on the floor, kicks and screams, crawls into Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs' arms for comfort before demanding his ice cream, and Pelosi took advantage of his moment of weakness in magnificent fashion.
After listing the enumerated powers of Congress, Pelosi noted with some irony that Trump is doing an end run around those powers.
"I know some Republicans have some unease about that, no matter what they say," she told reporters with a sly grin.
"If the President can declare an emergency on something he has created, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think what a President with different values can present to the American people," she said, grinning more broadly.
"You want to talk about a national emergency?" she asked, turning serious. "Let's talk about today, the one-year anniversary of another manifestation of the epidemic of gun violence. That's a national emergency."
She continued, "You declare that emergency, Mr. President. I wish you would. But a Democratic president can do that. Democratic Presidents can declare emergencies as well.
And we can substitute health care or climate change or any number of REAL emergencies in there, too, now can't we? While it's true that other presidents have declared national emergencies, I can't recall a time where one was declared over a non-existent emergency where there is absolutely no threat to our country at all.
Thoughts around Twitter:
Nicolle Wallace observes:
This is a good thread about why this is a Very Big Move by a Very Weak Man:
And my own:
Update:
The Speaker took to Twitter to make the case for why this is a weak, cynical decision:
