# Did Pelosi just un-invite Trump from the State of the Union? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 16, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898 "2019-01-16T22:02:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/81 "2019-01-17T12:58:12Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Pelosi probably should have checked with someone before suggesting that the Secret Service and DHS had “security concerns”: > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > She should have, but not Nielsen, because Nielsen is just a [lying flunky](https://www.factcheck.org/person/kirstjen-nielsen/). There’s no reason to privilege her claims over Pelosi’s, and good reason not to–namely, that Pelosi isn’t beholden to the liar in chief. > > She should have checked with someone, and I bet she did. What makes you think she didn’t? This was all blatantly deliberate. It was, IIRC, Nielsen who declared that the SOTU address required extra security measures (so they weren’t “false security concerns”; she was simply going by what had already been asserted by the security people themselves). Those specific security measures involve people who are not currently getting paid. Not only does Pelosi get to point out to Donald that the reason he can’t have his Special Moment where and when he wants is the government shutdown he owns (and could end any time), but the message sent out by Nielsen saying that they can still provide security personnel for an event that isn’t critical to the running of the country and could easily be moved is that the Trump administration are willing to still demand the government services they want for what would be a vanity event, but everyone else suffering from the shutdown was still out of luck. That 4D chess Trump supporters claimed he was playing? This is what it looks like. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/82 "2019-01-17T12:58:49Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Maybe from the local McDonald’s? Does he know not to talk with his mouth full? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/83 "2019-01-17T13:02:49Z")
I think Stephen Miller is probably thrilled at the prospect of a SOTU that will be delivered in writing. Finally his perfect prose will get out to the world without first being mangled by Trump! Seriously, Pelosi is a genius and knows exactly what she is doing. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/84 "2019-01-17T13:13:57Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I think Stephen Miller is probably thrilled at the prospect of a SOTU that will be delivered in writing. Finally his perfect prose will get out to the world without first being mangled by Trump! And words like “carnage,” “invasion” and “beheading” can all be hand-underlined in blood-red ink, the way they are on Miller’s drafts. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/85 "2019-01-17T13:15:44Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > **Originally Posted by KarlGauss:** > > Assuming there is a near-fixed and devoted Trump base of around 40 percent, and that Republican gerrymandering has been effective, the Democrats are in a precarious position. They need essentially complete support from the non-Trumpites. > > Anything they can do to woo even some of his base could have huge effect at the electoral level. > > The Democrats already have all the Trump haters in their pocket. The only way they are sure to succeed from here is to convert some of the pro-Trump camp to their side. > > The key word in my post was ‘sure’, as in ‘sure to succeed’. It seems those who didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 were insufficient in number and/or electoral district to stop him. Another source of votes is required (to be ‘sure’). If all demographics vote in the same percentages and partisan splits as they did in 2016, Donald loses in '20. Now, that’s by no means a given that it will happen and it’s also distressingly possible that he could win again, at least in part because of our bizarre electoral system. But with 3-4 million of his '16 voters dead by '20 and 15 million new potential voters coming online – a demographic which doesn’t vote at high rates but is definitely a non-Trump demo – the pressure will be on The Don to find new votes, not the Dems. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/86 "2019-01-17T13:19:18Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Isn’t that something? Within 3 days of Dems assuming their responsibilities in the House, Republicans were already trying to smear them with being obstructionist over the border wall – completely ignoring the whole 2 years they controlled the House before that. There are just no words for the depth of the corruption of Republicans. > > Brava, Nancy Pelosi!!! Congressman Andy Harris, Maryland’s lone Republican, was on morning drive time news radio here in Baltimore today and was asked why Trump and Congress didn’t get their wall done when they had a majority in both houses for two years. The answer was, naturally, “Democratic obstruction in the Senate.” I guess this is normal politics by today’s standards but stuff like that should discredit anyone who actually voices it or believes it. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/87 "2019-01-17T13:28:46Z")
I actually kinda like it. The State of the Union is a platform. I think it’s beautiful that she has taken it away from him. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/88 "2019-01-17T13:29:51Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You think lying about her motives and making up false “security concerns” is “classy”? Welcome to the Trump age. Before you can complain about her actions, you’ve got several years of Trump’s actions to be outraged about. Pelosi’s just playing hardball. Compared to Trump, _Benny Hill_ is classy. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/89 "2019-01-17T13:31:10Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I think Stephen Miller is probably thrilled at the prospect of a SOTU that will be delivered in writing. Finally his perfect prose will get out to the world without first being mangled by Trump! > > Seriously, Pelosi is a genius and knows exactly what she is doing. Nah, the Baby Goebbels likes to do interviews one on one, where he can put his psychosis on full display. But agreed on that last bit: Pelosi is giving little Donny some good potty training. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/90 "2019-01-17T14:01:12Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Pelosi’s an idiot. All Trump needs to do is give his speech on TV from the White House, maybe even the Oval Office, then hand a document to the House. Fox will televise him and if no one else does they’ll get huge ratings. > [@running\_coach](#): > > He won’t have [del]cheering crowds[/del] hordes of drooling idiots or sychophantic Congresscritters stroking his ego. He can’t brag about the (vastly inflated) numbers of viewers. > He _lives_ for that shit. We’ve recently seen what happens when Orangestain tries to deliver a speech from the Oval Office without his adoring sycophants cheering him on – he sounds like a hostage reading off his captors’ demands. [Even he knew it was a failure](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6571933/Trump-reportedly-said-did-NOT-want-Oval-Office-speech-wall.html) (for which he predictably blamed his underlings). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/91 "2019-01-17T14:11:27Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So if Trump shows up, do Democrats try to block his entry to the chamber by force, or do they just boycott and he deliver the speech in front of Republican Congressmen only? So if Trump ‘shows up,’ when exactly? It’s not like there’s a joint session of Congress that’s going to happen with or without the SOTU. At the time the SOTU would have been held, the House chamber will likely be empty. Or maybe the cleaning crew will be in there, emptying wastebaskets and vacuuming the carpets. Knock yourself out, POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/92 "2019-01-17T14:13:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You think lying about her motives and making up false “security concerns” is “classy”? And polite. She’s giving your lecherous Russian asset of a president the opportunity to bow out gracefully, which is far more than he deserves. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/93 "2019-01-17T14:28:18Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > So if Trump ‘shows up,’ when exactly? > > It’s not like there’s a joint session of Congress that’s going to happen with or without the SOTU. At the time the SOTU would have been held, the House chamber will likely be empty. Or maybe the cleaning crew will be in there, emptying wastebaskets and vacuuming the carpets. Knock yourself out, POTUS. More importantly, he can’t make anyone turn the TV cameras on. Those are ultimately controlled by the Speaker. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/94 "2019-01-17T14:28:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You think lying about her motives and making up false “security concerns” is “classy”? Classier than being \*proud \*that his supporters are so devoid of morals that they would ignore a random murder. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/95 "2019-01-17T14:33:41Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > . [Even he knew it was a failure](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6571933/Trump-reportedly-said-did-NOT-want-Oval-Office-speech-wall.html) (for which he predictably blamed his underlings). You rather misrepresented your link. It’s reporting that before the speech Trump thought it would be a waste of time but his underlings insisted not that he knew it was a failure and the failure was his underlings fault. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/96 "2019-01-17T14:40:11Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > And polite. She’s giving your lecherous Russian asset of a president the opportunity to bow out gracefully, which is far more than he deserves. Or that he’s capable of doing. Where’s the twitter tantrum at? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/97 "2019-01-17T14:41:00Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Anyway, Jan 29th is 2 years +8 days, isn’t it? So I wonder if it will be Pence giving the address? > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Did you mistake Jan. 29th for Feb. 29th? 😕 I think what **Quartz** is getting at is that any time from January 21 on, there will be less than 2 years remaining in Trump’s term, so if he resigned on or after January 21, Pence would not only finish out Trump’s term, but would be eligible for 2 terms of his own, per the 22nd Amendment. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > No. The number of voting-eligible Americans who didn’t vote in 2016 dwarfs the number who voted for Trump. > > Those are the votes to go after. Removing barriers to voting seems to be a necessary precondition for this approach. With reforms like AVR, same-day registration, abundant early voting sites, absentee voting without a need to provide a reason, the % of eligible voters who vote goes way up. In the absence of those reforms, every few years a candidate says something along the lines of how he’s going to get the nonvoting majority to vote for him, and it never pans out. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/98 "2019-01-17T14:41:25Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You rather misrepresented your link. It’s reporting that before the speech Trump thought it would be a waste of time but his underlings insisted not that he knew it was a failure and the failure was his underlings fault. He still made the final decision to make the speech. Remember “[The buck stops here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_passing#%22The_buck_stops_here%22)”? > [@](#): > > The phrase refers to the notion that the President has to make the decisions and accept the ultimate responsibility for those decisions. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/99 "2019-01-17T14:58:01Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Having the President live with the consequences of his shutdown is a reasonable thing. I don’t think that’s measure on any kind of classy/non-classy scale. I don’t think a speech is an essential government service. You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but it amounts to precisely nothing when determining which jobs are “essential” vs non-essential. That decision is ultimately up to … President Trump. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898/100 "2019-01-17T15:04:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > … She should have checked with someone, and I bet she did. What makes you think she didn’t? Is there any evidence supporting your guess that she did? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-pelosi-just-un-invite-trump-from-the-state-of-the-union/827898.md?page=6)