A briefing with congressional leaders at the White House on Wednesday ended with insults, a walkout — and a meme. It was the first face-to-face meeting between President Trump and top Democrats since the impeachment inquiry began, and things got heated between the president and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The House had just passed a bipartisan resolution condemning Mr. Trump's abrupt decision to pull troops from Syria, and lawmakers were supposed to be discussing the deteriorating military situation there with the president. But top Democrats left the meeting early. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the president insulted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a "nasty diatribe." Afterwards, Pelosi said of the president, "We have to pray for his health because this was a very serious meltdown."
President Trump did not appreciate the remark, and flung the "meltdown" accusation right back at her. He shared an official White House photo on Twitter, showing Pelosi standing up and pointing a finger at him during the meeting earlier that day. "Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown!" he wrote.
Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown! pic.twitter.com/RDeUI7sfe7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2019
The back-and-forth between the president and his Democratic foes did not end there. The image soon became Pelosi's cover photo on Twitter. Pelosi's Chief of Staff Drew Hamill clearly wanted others to notice the tongue-in-cheek gesture, so he tweeted an image of the speaker's cover photo, thanking Mr. Trump for the new image.
Thanks for the new cover photo @realDonaldTrump! pic.twitter.com/bUatLr5S7D
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) October 16, 2019
Hamill also retweeted presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar's reaction to the image. "Can a woman beat Donald Trump? Yes. @SpeakerPelosi does it every day," the senator from Minnesota wrote.
Can a woman beat Donald Trump?
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) October 17, 2019
Yes. @SpeakerPelosi does it every day. pic.twitter.com/ssPErVFbk9