McCarthy: ‘Unbecoming Of The Speaker’ To Delay State Of The Union
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Wednesday that it was “unbecoming” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to rescind her invitation for President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address as a result of the government shutdown.
“To change course like that shows she’s playing politics,” McCarthy said, per CNN. “To change course is just unbecoming of the speaker.”
Other outlets reported the remarks as well. NBC News’ Frank Thorp reported that McCarthy also said: “Speaker Pelosi should act like a speaker and have the President and keep her word like she invited him.”
Pelosi wrote to Trump Wednesday that she would be postponing the address. She’s characterized the delay as the result of a security issue — “this requires hundreds of people working on the logistics and the security of it, most of the people are either furloughed or victims of the President’s shutdown” — and suggested Trump could deliver the address “from the Oval Office, if he wants.”
McCarthy told CNN that Trump “should come here, give the speech” on Jan. 29, the date for which Pelosi initially invited him.
“Yes, absolutely,” Trump should come to Congress that day, McCarthy said. “That was the invitation.”
TPM has reached out to McCarthy’s office for comment.