As Twitchy told you, Nancy Pelosi has asked Donald Trump to postpone the State of the Union Address until after the partial government shutdown has ended.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was a little more direct:
JUST NOW: "The State of the Union is off."@LeaderHoyer to @KateBolduan
— John Berman (@JohnBerman) January 16, 2019
House Majority @LeaderHoyer: “The State of the Union is off.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 16, 2019
Hoyer goes further than Pelosi about SOTU. On @CNN he says: "The State of the Union is off," He says "as long as the Government is shut down we're not going to be doing business as usual."
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 16, 2019
.@KateBolduan asks @LeaderHoyer if @SpeakerPelosi is essentially saying the State of the Union on the Hill is canceled.
"Yep!" he responds, later adding: "The State of the Union is off."
Any chance Trump could convince them otherwise?
"No."
(Full exchange below) pic.twitter.com/6a9QMy31LT
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) January 16, 2019
Welp.
"The State of the Union is off" might be the understatement of all time. https://t.co/oDq5cuAauU
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 16, 2019
"I'll say it is" – Statler & Waldorf https://t.co/wGagEI3Nn0
— Nathan, son of Robert (@NathanWurtzel) January 16, 2019
Recommended
When I'm president, "The State of the Union is off" will be my opening line. https://t.co/CdIindAtHK
— jon gabriel (@exjon) January 16, 2019
Heh.
In all seriousness, though, this may wind up being the best thing to come out of the government shutdown.
Best. Government. Shutdown. EVER. https://t.co/j22VbwWIgr
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 16, 2019
Ditching a tedious ritual that most regular Americans just aren’t all that interested in sounds like a pretty good idea to us. And speaking of ditching unnecessary stuff:
Now Congress should move to permanently dismantle large executive agencies because of the shutdown. You know, to stop Trump. Not because I would actually just like to watch the executive branch cut down to size overall.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 16, 2019
Let’s do it!
THE GOVERNMENT IS CANCELED
— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 16, 2019
Yes, please!
***
Update:
Hold up:
Hoyer said on CNN that the SOTU is off, but his spox clarifies: "He hadn’t read the actual letter and misunderstood." Still just a proposal from Pelosi, not a formal disinvitation.
— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) January 16, 2019
UPDATE: Dem aides are now yanking this quote back. “Mr. Hoyer had not read Speaker Pelosi’s letter and mischaracterized it," says his spokeswoman Mariel Saez. https://t.co/s4XsKoxBwv
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) January 16, 2019
Hoyer's office walks this back:
Hoyer spokeswoman Mariel Saez: “Mr. Hoyer had not read Speaker Pelosi’s letter and mischaracterized it.”
Per @RebeccaRKaplan https://t.co/wm3xU8oPd1
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) January 16, 2019
Hoyer's office is now clarifying his remarks made to news outlets earlier today, saying that he had not read Pelosi's letter at the time he made the remarks and mischaracterized it.
The letter stands as Pelosi SUGGESTING to Trump that the SOTU should be moved to another date.
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) January 16, 2019
No, no. It can still be canceled! We ask for so little … can you give us just this one thing? Please?