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'Bizzare': Nancy Pelosi's reaction to Biden's ‘burn pits’ remark sparks wave of SOTU memes

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised eyebrows after her rather odd reaction to President Joe Biden's remarks about 'burn pits' in the Middle East during his SOTU address

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised eyebrows after her rather odd reaction to President Joe Biden's remarks about "burn pits" in the Middle East during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, March 1.

Biden was highlighting the perils faced by US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq when Pelosi's response sparked an uproar on social media. The POTUS said that one of the dangers was soldiers breathing toxic smoke from burn pits while at their bases. This prompted Pelosi to rise to her feet while rubbing her knuckles together and smiling in a bizarre act. 

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Biden, during his address, outlined four items in a “Unity Agenda for the Nation” that included support for US veterans. “My administration is providing assistance with job training and housing, and now helping lower-income veterans get VA care debt-free,” he said. “Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan faced many dangers. One was stationed at bases and breathing in toxic smoke from ‘burn pits'. Many of you have been there," he added. As the President made the remark, the House Speaker was seen standing up behind him with a grin and rubbing her knuckles together as if holding back an ill-timed clap, the New York Post reported.

Social media was quick to respond to the odd reaction, with some wondering if Pelosi was intoxicated at the event.

“Is Pelosi good?” Rep. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) press secretary Abigail Marone tweeted. 

“So weird…” Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) added.

“What the…” Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) commented. 

“Didn’t think #SOTU could get any worse… then this happens. Why is Pelosi so giddy about burn pits?” conservative pundit Steven Crowder asked. 

"Find someone to look at you the way Nancy Pelosi looks at the mention of burn pits," radio host Dana Loesch said.

“Seriously, though, why was she so weird tonight?” Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, chimed in. 

"Nancy Pelosi's reaction to troops 'breathing in toxic smoke from burn pits' is the weirdest/creepiest thing I've ever seen," The Independent Journal Review’s Caleb Hull offered.

"Biden's address was predictably doddering & out of touch. But the most bizarre note of the night was Nancy Pelosi simpering coyly at the mention of tragic & toxic burn-pits from the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq. Nov can't come soon enough! #RetireKilmerFirePelosi #CleanUpTheHouse," GOP candidate Elizabeth Kreiselmaier wrote.

Some let their creativity flow and created memes, just as many social media users had done when Pelosi tore up a copy of former President Donald Trump's 2020 SOTU speech.

“When I see the brownies about to come out of the oven,” Washington Examiner's deputy editor Grant Addison tweeted.

Journalist Siraj Hashmi likened Pelosi's reaction to a dog's excitement upon hearing plastic-wrapped food. “*Plastic wrapper crumples* my dog:” Hashmi wrote alongside a video of the reaction.

“Speaker Pelosi’s reaction every time President Biden proposed spending another trillion of your hard-earned dollars. #StopTheSpending #SOTUinCrisis #SOTU,” Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) commented.