President Donald Trump spoke for more than an hour and 20 minutes last night, but the moment that may be remembered best from his State of the Union address had no words at all.
It was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood and applauded a line from Trump’s speech in a way that seemed rife with sarcasm to many observers.
The moment came after an eyebrow-raising call for unity from Trump that seemed at direct odds with his own long history of Twitter insults, especially coming on the heels of a pre-speech luncheon in which he reportedly insulted multiple political rivals.
“We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution, and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise and the common good,” Trump said in his State of the Union address.
Pelosi then stood and clapped, aiming her applause at Trump in a way comic Patton Oswalt summed up in a tweet:
Congrats to @SpeakerPelosi for inventing the “fuck you” clap. #sotu pic.twitter.com/eueoUf9IBT
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 6, 2019
Others also took note of the literal clap-back, which rapidly turned into a meme:
This Nancy Pelosi: EVERYTHING. 🙌🏼😂 pic.twitter.com/FlnybjYDm1
— 𝖑𝖎𝖑𝖔 🍀 (@jeonleoo) February 6, 2019
This clap has changed my life thank you @SpeakerPelosi pic.twitter.com/sC6mAx8Cri
— Ken (@Culpepperthecat) February 6, 2019
The "read your tweets" clap pic.twitter.com/eEoyeidE69
— LP (@LikkitP) February 6, 2019
This is it. This is the photo of the century. @SpeakerPelosi wins. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/3mZ9DTeGHe
— Becca Morgan (@itsmebeccam) February 6, 2019
Is that shade, a clap back, or both?!?! https://t.co/6XK6EmDSAM
— Micaela Tucker (@mica_tucker) February 6, 2019
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) February 6, 2019
You could power Cleveland for weeks on this pure sarcasm energy pic.twitter.com/ZXK2rHEe1V
— Mark Gongloff (@markgongloff) February 6, 2019
idk feel like I can do better pic.twitter.com/1pAzxctdjE
— ta🌮co (@recursivetaco) February 6, 2019
Is this what the kids mean when they keep talking about a clap back? 👏 👏 👏 #SOTU19 #sotu pic.twitter.com/ILutom5pFT
— Mike Friis (@Friisicle) February 6, 2019
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 6, 2019
Through a single clap, Speaker Pelosi tells Trump she’s going to dog walk him. Iconic picture for the ages. pic.twitter.com/ooP8DYGU2m
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 6, 2019
Don’t mess with Nancy. pic.twitter.com/UdBHKzWhtW
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸 (@aravosis) February 6, 2019
Holy hell that look.
— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) February 6, 2019
When your Mom looks at you like that, don’t walk.
Run. https://t.co/PXmSNz3EEV
This “kiss my ass” clap from Pelosi is killing me lmaooooo pic.twitter.com/WTsIntHWUi
— Peela ❤️ (@therealpeela) February 6, 2019
getting this framed
— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) February 6, 2019
(Doug Mills/Pool via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/rzGRG3Suct
“F*** you” clap. This is my new meme. This is a clap I will incorporate into my life now. pic.twitter.com/4tcTG0OgGr
— Sarah Young (@sarahyoung_JD) February 6, 2019
Photo of the night - here you go man-child, a clap...
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) February 6, 2019
Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/HnpNCv3R6Q
Now THIS is how you mockingly clap at someone. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/IQ31NHMLou
— Banana Candy (@_BananaCandy) February 6, 2019
Speaker Pelosi is the new plaid shirt guy #SOTU pic.twitter.com/imz3hqpLoi
— allison hart (@alley_hart) February 6, 2019
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