Washington - US President Donald Trump on
Thursday accused some of those who supported his impeachment of
hypocritically cloaking themselves in their faith, in a thinly
veiled attack on Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and
Senator Mitt Romney, the sole Republican to vote to convict him
in his trial.
"I don't like people who use their faith as justification
for doing what they know is wrong. Nor do I like people who say,
'I pray for you,' when they know that that's not so," Trump, a
Republican, said at an annual bipartisan prayer breakfast.
They were Trump's first public remarks since the
Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday acquitted him over
charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress in a
nearly party-line vote.
Pelosi, a Catholic who launched the impeachment inquiry in
September, said in December that she does not hate Trump and
that she prays for him. Romney, a Mormon, said in an emotional
speech before the vote on Wednesday that his faith compelled him
to vote to convict Trump.
As Trump arrived at the annual gathering of lawmakers and
faith leaders, typically one of the few harmonious events in the
nation's deeply divided capital, he held up two newspapers that
mentioned his acquittal.
He did not greet Pelosi, who sat with him on the stage. When
Pelosi spoke, he scowled, folded his arms and turned away.
It was the second display of animosity between the two
leaders in less than 48 hours. During Tuesday's State of the
Union speech, Trump refused to shake Pelosi's hand and the House
of Representatives' top Democrat ripped up a copy of his speech
just behind him as the cameras rolled.
Pelosi later said she ripped up the copy of the speech
because it was full of lies.