The women of Congress stole the show during Trump's State of the Union address
During Donald Trump's State of the Union address, a chant of "USA" rang out across the chamber as a large group of attendees jumped to their feet.
Surprisingly, they were mostly Democratic congresswomen.
In Tuesday night's address, the highest energy moment came when Trump brought up the record amount of women in the workforce, saying women "filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year." That elicited an unexpected celebration from the large group of Democratic women sitting front and center in the chamber.
"All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before — don't sit yet, you are going to like this," he said. He went on to highlight the record number of women (131) who are part of the 116th Congress, many of whom are recently elected.
"And exactly one century after Congress passed the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress than ever before," said Trump.
At this, many of the legislators including Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and others, encouraged by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, stood up and applauded again. Then, before the president could continue, the women started chanting "USA" loudly in the House of Representatives.
It wasn't the only time "USA" rang out across the chamber that night, but honestly, it was the best.
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Seriously, it was a big moment.
Look, there's Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in her goddamn cape.
The moment looked even more powerful because many of the Democratic women were wearing white in solidarity with the women's suffrage movement and support the campaign for gender equality.
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After the speech, House Speaker Pelosi said she "liked" Trump's pointing out of the number of women in Congress in his speech, but that it needed clarification.
"I liked when he acknowledged it was the largest number of women, he forgot to acknowledge there were only 15 Republicans and 91 Democratic women in the Congress of the United States ... in the House of Representatives," she said.
"I love the way the women just rose to the occasion."
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Look, Trump's very brief mention of record-breaking numbers around women in the workplace, including Congress, likely came from his daughter and senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump, Politco's White House reporter Gabby Orr noted.
But thanks to a group of badass female lawmakers, it led to one of the most inspiring moments of a very strange SOTU, and we'll take what we can get.
UPDATE: Feb. 6, 2019, 4:10 p.m. AEDT Added Nancy Pelosi's response to Trump's SOTU.
Topics Donald Trump Politics
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
