![VIDEO: 'Courageous' Nancy Pelosi appears to make tiny tears in President Trump's State of the Union speech long before ripping it up](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=22661141&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C18%2C0%2C18)
Video screenshot shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech — and an apparent tiny tear can be seen on the edge of it in the red circle. (Image source: New York Post video screenshot)
'SPEAKER PELOSI is my hero!'
Leftists far and wide praised Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for ripping up her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Their operative word for her viral stunt?
Courageous.
Famed author Joyce Carol Oates seemed to think so, calling Pelosi's actions — and GOP Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) decision to vote to convict Trump prior the Democrats' failed impeachment attempt — "courageous & noble." Oates went even further, noting "there is something Shakespearean, or at least excitingly theatrical, in these public gestures."
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Other Twitter users agreed:
If the left-wing consensus is that Pelosi is a "hero" and was "courageous" amid an act that appeared to spring spontaneously from her "heart," a clip of the speaker prior to her gutsy stand for truth and justice would seem to say otherwise.
Video from the New York Post shows Pelosi grabbing her copy of Trump's speech, placing it near her lap and mostly out of camera view, and apparently making tiny tears into it — a "pre-rip," if you will — presumably so that her big moment at the conclusion of Trump's address would go flawlessly.
Check it out:
The Post added that photos of the sheets of paper show them face down with small slits on the side, apparently near where Pelosi soon ripped them up.
The Post said Pelosi's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the aftermath, a number of Republicans said they're taking action against Pelosi for her stunt: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) tweeted that he's filing an ethics complaint against the Democratic leader; Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) introduced a resolution criticizing Pelosi for her act; and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted that he introduced a resolution to censure Pelosi.