Pelosi & Trump make a show of SOTU business as usual as their supporters root for each to stab the other in the back

US President Donald Trump has accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to give the annual State of the Union address, extended just two days after the House voted to impeach. Does she have something up her sleeve? Does he?

Trump accepted the invitation to deliver the yearly speech before Congress February 4, less than two hours after Pelosi sent it on Friday - an incongruously civil act of business-as-usual amid the chaos of impeachment that has seen both parties trade insults all week. The date could see Trump delivering the SOTU while the Senate oversees his trial, and falls the day after the first Democratic primary caucus.

Both politicians (and their respective parties) are vocally dissatisfied with how impeachment is progressing. Trump and the GOP want to get the trial started so they can bring it to a speedy conclusion, while Pelosi and the Democrats refuse to even turn over the articles of impeachment passed Wednesday that would allow the trial to begin until their opponents agree to certain conditions. The Senate adjourned on Friday for the rest of the year without even deciding on whether the trial will include witnesses or requests for additional documents, with majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) claiming to have reached an “impasse” with minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York).

But Trump and Pelosi playing nice in order to get things done didn’t last. The president was back on Twitter shortly after sending the congresswoman his RSVP, accusing her of “looking for a Quid Pro Quo with the Senate.”

Why aren’t we impeaching her?

Democrats were convinced Pelosi was plotting something of her own, holding up her dispassionate invite letter - nearly a carbon copy of last year’s invitation - as a “power move”  and suggesting the California Democrat was luring Trump into a trap. He would be unable to resist engaging in such over-the-top demagoguery that, try as they might, Senate Republicans would have no choice but to vote to convict and remove him from office - or at least, that seems to be the idea among Pelosi supporters, who insisted her moves were “bordering on brilliance.” 

Even those who weren’t fans of Pelosi thought she was laying a trap for the president.

Trump supporters raised a collective eyebrow at the Democrats, pointing out that they were celebrating Pelosi for literally doing her job.

“That’s a victory for you guys?” snarked one user.

“You’ve been had, democrats. President Trump isn’t going anywhere,” gloated another.

Several pointed out that Pelosi appeared to be backpedaling furiously.

Trump’s performance was hotly anticipated.

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