“The House’s hour is over,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Thursday in a floor speech slamming Democrats for putting on a “partisan performance” celebrating the signing of articles of impeachment by handing out souvenirs and posing for smiling photos.
In a contrived signing ceremony Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signed the articles of impeachment, one letter at a time, using golden pens delivered to her on a silver platter – which she handed out as souvenirs, McConnell said:
“After weeks of delay, the Speaker of the House decided yesterday that a trial could finally go forward. She signed the impeachment papers.
“That took place, at a table with a political slogan stuck onto it.
“And they posed afterwards for smiling photos.
“And the Speaker distributed souvenir pens to her own colleagues, emblazoned with her own golden signature – that, literally, came in on silver platters. Golden pens on silver platters. A souvenir to celebrate the moment.”
In all, Pelosi gave out more than two dozen pens she used to sign the articles of impeachment.
McConnell, then, mocked Democrats’ repeated claims that they view impeachment of a U.S. president a grave and serious endeavor they did not take lightly:
“Now I seem to remember Democrats falling over themselves to say they did not see impeachment as a long-sought political win. House Democrats said over and over that they recognized the gravity and seriousness of this action and had only come to it reluctantly.
“Well, nothing says seriousness and sobriety like handing out souvenirs. As though this were a happy bill-signing instead of the gravest process in our Constitution.
“This final display neatly distilled the House’s entire partisan process into one perfect visual.
“It was a transparently partisan performance from beginning to end.”
But, the time for joyful theatrics is over, now that the impeachment have been delivered to the Senate, McConnell concluded:
“And that’s why the Speaker of the House apparently saw nothing strange about celebrating the third presidential impeachment in American history with souvenirs and posed photographs.
“That about sums it up. That’s what this process has been thus far.
“But it is not what this process will be going forward.”
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“The House’s hour is over. The Senate’s time is at hand. It is time for this proud body to honor our founding purpose.”