House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was all smiles as she signed the articles of impeachment. Not only did she take celebratory pictures with other members of Congress but she also handed out commemorative pens to mark the "momentous" occasion.
Things had to look pretty bad when even a CNN panel found Pelosi's actions to be strange. Remember: Pelosi has continually said this is a sad, somber moment for the country. If it was such a somber occasion why was she smiling, taking pictures and handing out mementos? If this was truly a sad time she wouldn't be acting the way she did.
"We are used to seeing signing ceremonies, handing out pens, at moments of celebration, when a president is signing legislation, even sometimes on a rare occasion when the House sends over a landmark piece of legislation," CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash explained. "It was unusual to see that kind of ceremony and making, you know, handing out the pens and smiling for a picture, in this kind of situation where the House Speaker has bent over backwards to say publicly and privately this is somber, this is not a time for a celebration."
Bash acknowledged that this will be a moment in history and those at the center of this want to mark this moment but it was something she "didn't expect to see."
"I thought that was a little jarring and certainly, I think, off message," Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN Senior Political Reporter, said. "You heard Nancy Pelosi say there, in fact, that this was a tragic day and then there she is holding up the pen and having photographs taken with those pens. So yeah, I think it was a little off message for someone who has tried to set a very serious tone."
CNN has become one of the most anti-Trump cable networks out there. In fact, President Trump frequently calls them out for their political bias. The fact that this panel – which includes Dana Bash, who has moderated Democratic debates – admitting that this is a bad look says something. It means this is going to backfire on the Democrats... and people in their own echo-chamber and finally realizing that.