Nancy Pelosi's Literal Clap-Back At Trump Is The Most Iconic Moment Of The Night

The speaker's seemingly sarcastic applause quickly turned into a new meme.
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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

pic.twitter.com/P9BdZ6U8sF

— 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

pic.twitter.com/YYfkl5me2t

— 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.

When your Mom looks at you like that, don’t walk.
Run. https://t.co/PXmSNz3EEV

— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) February 6, 2019

This “kiss my ass” clap from Pelosi is killing me lmaooooo pic.twitter.com/WTsIntHWUi

— Peela ❤️ (@therealpeela) February 6, 2019

getting this framed
(Doug Mills/Pool via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/rzGRG3Suct

— Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) February 6, 2019

“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...

Photo: Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images pic.twitter.com/HnpNCv3R6Q

— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) February 6, 2019

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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