During the signing ceremony for the USMCA, which updates the former NAFTA trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, President Trump appeared to mock House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when he handed out souvenir pens, Fox News reported.
Earlier in the month, Pelosi handed out pens to commemorate the signing of the articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress before sending them to the Senate.
At the time, the speaker received some scorn from Republicans for handing out the $15 pens , seeing it as a sign of gloating during an event she had referred to as “somber.”
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“Nancy Pelosi’s souvenir pens served up on silver platters to sign the sham articles of impeachment,” tweeted Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. “She was so somber as she gave them away to people like prizes.”
So, when it came time for President Trump to have a signing ceremony for the USMCA, he appeared to be mocking Pelosi as he handed out pens to those gathered around him.
And, indeed, many Republicans did gloat on social media at the sight of the president handing out pens.
However, it’s worth noting that handing out pens is a traditional practice to commemorate signing important documents.
When President Lyndon Johnson, for example, signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he handed out more than 75 pens. President Obama used 22 pens to sign the Affordable Care Act and handed them out. Souvenir pens were also handed out to Senators during the Clinton impeachment .
In fact, the tradition of handing out pens for signing ceremonies appears to date back to at least the 1930s.
Pens used to sign historic legislation become parts of history themselves, and presidents have traditionally gifted the pens to those who helped create the legislation, or who would benefit from it. One of Johnson’s many pens went to Martin Luther King, Jr., for example.
And the day that Pelosi was handing out pens and sending the articles of Trump’s impeachment to the Senate, Trump was also handing out pens.
He signed a new trade agreement with China that day, at the end of which he passed a handful of pens out to commemorate the event.
h/t: Fox News
