And then there was the non-handshake
The following quote is from commenter “Liz”. I haven’t done the research independently myself, but I found what she writes here fascinating, and I haven’t yet seen any reporter discussing this sort of thing:
About that handshake, I found a video of the 2019 SOTU speech and looked at the start of it.
Trump handed the speech copy to the VP, without shaking hands and then to Pelosi. She did extend her hand and they shook hands and Trump said some words to her. He then shook hands with Pence.
Going back to the 2018 SOTU, Trump hands the speech copies to Ryan, then Pence and did not shake hands with either one.
Way back to the 2016 SOTU, Obama probably kissed every woman while going down the aisle and even got a big hug from RBG. He gave Biden and Ryan the copies of the speech and did not appear to shake hands but turned around to start the speech.
So, there is no tradition of shaking hands.
If that’s the case, Trump wouldn’t have been expecting a handshake, and it would have explained the fact that he didn’t shake Pence’s hand, either. It is clear from the video that he was mostly turned away by the time Pelosi offered her hand. I don’t know whether she purposely timed it that way or not.
But much of the coverage I’ve seen not only doesn’t explore the question of whether a handshake is usual, it also acts as though the handshake refusal was intentional (although we can’t tell) and as though Pelosi’s speech-ripping action was some sort of tit-for-tat. Here’s an example.
And now I am heartily sick of analyzing this war of gestures.
At the beginning of the proceeding, before Trump got to the podium, the protocol was that Pelosi would present him to the assembled Congresspersons. She failed to use the-time honored phrase by which Speakers have always introduced the President: (I have) “the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the President of the United States.” Instead, she simply said “I present to you the President of the United States.”
Trump responded, correctly, to that petty little insult, from that petty little woman.
Cap’n Rusty:
No, it was the other way around in terms of order. Watch the video. Trump hands them the papers at around 2:16, and she announces him at around 3:08.
I’m voting for her having timed the extended hand as he turned around intentionally, to get the video clip. I think her ripping up the speech text at the end was also intentional.
Now we see that she “pre-ripped” pages so her frail hands wouldn’t fail at the crucial moment.
My own analysis is the same as Liz. His face is generally in the direction in time that he may have saw the arm outstretched for whatever reason. But then, to call it a snub leaves out that he also didn’t shake Pence’s hand. Whatever the situation or excuse, if you want to be the grown up, making a gesture by ripping up the speech is a disqualification. Also, this is the same woman that choreographed the vote for impeachment, told people how to act at each phase, and made sure the woman of her party (the one’s she could control) dressed a certain way. Theater seems to be a thing with her.
Neo:
Darn. You’re right. My mistake. Even worse, by slighting Pelosi, she might have retaliated by leaving out the “privilege” and “honor.”
How come there’s no red-faced emoji for me to post?
Capn’ Rusty:
A lot of other people got it backwards, too. So don’t fret.
I also happen to think she timed the proffered hand so that he was unlikely to see it. Win/win for her that way. If he sees it and shakes, she gets points for graciousness. If he fails to see it and doesn’t shake, she has the high road. She took the low road with the paper-ripping, but she knew the press and her party would frame it as a reaction to what HE did.
A hand shake is a way of showing friendship, respect, and affection. It is often used as a sign of trust to complete a deal.
There is no friendship or respect being shown toward the POTUS by the Speaker, and there’s certainly no affection between the two. And, if I’m Trump, I sure as heck don’t trust the Speaker. All in all, there was no reason for a handshake. That she extended her hand was a devious gesture that deserved to be ignored.
The bottom line is that the country is being run by children, and we have the worst political class imaginable. The question is, how do we get anyone with a semblance of normalcy to run for national office?
I’m pretty sure that IF Trump had seen the hand offered, he would have shaken it. He’s willing to shake anybody’s hand.
That’s part of making, or trying to make, a deal.
He didn’t shake Pence’s hand (awkward possessive there, Pence’s), so he wasn’t expecting anything from Pelosi.
Note he hands her the speech; she takes it in her right hand; she switches hands as he starts to turn; she extends right hand under the speech as he turns.
I don’t believe he noticed her hand, but she did put it out pretty quickly.
It looks to me like she did expect him to shake her hand, but was prepared for no handshake.
So I think Pelosi planned and did a double stunt – handshake (or not) plus end of speech ripping it up.
Are we talking about the Great Speech, or the Great Results?
Or are we talking about the Dem dirty tricks?
Dirty tricks. Mission accomplished.
She’s spent the past 6 months trying to have the man removed from office.
The only thing Trump owed her was his middle finger.
Neo – just catching up on posts. But all I can say is WOW – I made it – one of my comments generated a post!!
I would have searched for more videos of SOTU, but I thought it wouldn’t matter since the political tone has changed in recent years.