Donald Trump’s Republican National Committee (RNC) smeared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as being “drunk”at his State of the Union address.
The RNC’s research arm, RNC Research, posted on X in response to a photo of Pelosi during Trump’s first official State of the Union address of his second term. The image, which circulated widely on the platform, showed Pelosi seated and listening as Trump spoke.
The Libs of TikTok account, which has more than 4.6 million followers on X, initially shared the image and asked followers to “Caption this.”
“She couldn’t stand if she wanted to,” the RNC Research account replied. The account is managed by the RNC and regularly posts clips and commentary targeting Democrats.
The official GOP account also posted about Pelosi, writing “Nancy’s POV” alongside an image that appeared to show a distorted view of Trump at the podium.
There is no evidence that Pelosi was intoxicated during Tuesday’s address.
Pelosi, 85, announced her retirement in November. She has repeatedly been the subject of baseless misinformation campaigns portraying her as drunk.
The posts followed comments Trump made during his address in which he endorsed banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks, drawing bipartisan applause.
“Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,” Trump said. He then added: “Did Nancy Pelosi stand up?… Doubt it.”
Pelosi was among the lawmakers who applauded the proposal. Her family’s financial disclosures have been cited by critics advocating for stricter limits on congressional stock trading.
Claims about Pelosi’s alleged alcohol use have circulated online for years. In 2019, conservative commentators alleged that $52,000 in alcohol had been charged to government flights used by Pelosi and paid for with taxpayer funds. At the time, her deputy chief of staff told multiple media outlets that Pelosi does not drink alcohol and said the allegations were false.
Fact-checking organizations have also repeatedly debunked manipulated videos and images that appeared to show Pelosi slurring words.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Pelosi for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump’s health continues to draw increased scrutiny, with several media outlets reporting on concerns related to his health and mental fitness, following in the footsteps of the Daily Beast.
Reports have described instances in which Trump, 79, appeared to fall asleep during Oval Office and Cabinet meetings, drifted off mid-sentence during public remarks, and appeared with recurring bruising on his hand.
The White House revealed last year that Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which leg veins have difficulty returning blood to the heart. Officials described the condition as common among older adults and said Trump was taking aspirin as part of his health regimen.
On Tuesday, Trump again slathered makeup on his bruised right hand. The president has said it takes “about 10 seconds” to apply.
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