State of the Union: Nancy Pelosi Kept Shuffling Papers Around, and Viewers Were Confused

Those tuning in to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address Tuesday night couldn't help but notice the odd moments Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen shuffling a stack of papers as Trump addressed the nation. Throughout several moments of the speech, Pelosi, the sole Democrat on camera directly behind the president, glanced down and appeared to read over a stack of papers, causing a frenzy on social media.

Can somebody explain to me what’s with Nancy Pelosi randomly shuffling papers around? #StateOfTheUnion #SOTU pic.twitter.com/wZSqpSOMlb

— Warren T. Carrigan (@WarrenCarrigan) February 5, 2020

"What are those papers Pelosi is flipping through?" asked one viewer.

"How many times is [Pelosi] going to shuffle through her papers," wrote another. "Haha she's having a great night."

"Nancy Pelosi is doing that thing where you shuffle papers to make yourself look busy in front of your boss when you've really just been zoned for the last hour," joked a third.

Zooming in on Nancy Pelosi, I think she mouths “well, I like that one” when Trump says we’re all created equally. Not sure...I could watch her fidget with her papers and look disgusted all night. 😂 I just block him out. @CNNSotu pic.twitter.com/8ElRdoUZz8

— Tink (@BohoTink) February 5, 2020

"[Nancy Pelosi] needs an iPad," added another. "I'm tired of seeing her shuffle those damn papers. But on second thought, if Iowa is any gauge on how dems handle tech, she should probably just keep it simple."

"Whats with Nancy Pelosi and all the papers she is shuffling," tweeted a fifth.

"nancy keeps shuffling papers like a blackjack dealer in Reno who won't laugh at your jokes," shared someone else.

According to Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill, she was looking over a copy of Trump's speech, which the president had handed to her at the beginning of the speech, CNN reports.

Of course, those papers had an even bigger moment in the spotlight when, at the conclusion of Trump's address, Pelosi was seen tearing them in shreds.

Here's the video, via CSPAN, of Pelosi tearing up Trump's speech. pic.twitter.com/dUnAg2csf0

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 5, 2020

Explaining her decision to shred the papers, Pelosi told reports that "it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative."

"It was a manifesto of mistruths," she said of Trump's remarks. "We always extend a hand of friendship. If he rejects it, that's up to him."