Donald Trump goes after Nancy Pelosi's teeth as the House gears up for impeachment vote

The jab comes just days before the House is expected to impeach Donald Trump. Photo / AP

American President Donald Trump opened a new, dental front Sunday in his periodic feuding with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggesting on Twitter that her teeth were falling out as she answered a reporter's question about why bribery was not made an article of impeachment.

The jab comes just days before the House is expected to impeach Trump. Late last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment against the president: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Pelosi (Democrat, California) has described Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine's president into announcing politically advantageous investigations as "bribery," but bribery — a somewhat legally unwieldy definition — was not included among the charges, even if House Democrats believe Trump's actions can be described as such in lay speech.

Nancy Pelosi has been a frequent target of Trump. Photo / AP

"This was a decision that was recommended by working together with our committee chairs, our attorneys and the rest," Pelosi said last week, when a reporter asked her about it.

Representative Mark Meadows (Republican, North Carolina) retweeted a clip of the exchange posted by The Hill Thursday night, adding, "Because it wasn't true."

Meadows's tweet caught Trump's attention Sunday, when he offered his additional thoughts: "Because Nancy's teeth were falling out of her mouth, and she didn't have time to think!"

The video shows that just before answering the reporter's question, Pelosi moved her mouth slightly and took a sip of water, but her teeth did not appear out of place and her speech was not interrupted.

Question: "You yourself accused [Trump] of bribery. Why did you decide not to make bribery one of the articles of impeachment."

Speaker Pelosi: "This was a decision that was recommended by working together with our committee chairs, our attorneys and the rest." pic.twitter.com/wDEydLweTm

— The Hill (@thehill) December 13, 2019

Spokespeople for Pelosi did not immediately offer a comment about the president's tweet Sunday night.

Pelosi and a bipartisan group of lawmakers were marking the second day of a trip overseas to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Bulge.

Representative David N. Cicilline (Democrat, Rhode Island) a member of the House leadership team, tweeted Sunday night that he was praying for Trump, because "these are serious times & he's spent the last week attacking strong women."

The president has frequently jeered at his political rivals, often resorting to jabs about people's appearance. Pelosi has been a frequent target of Trump's: Since the House took up its impeachment inquiry, the president has also used Twitter to accuse her of an "unhinged meltdown," while again dubbing her "Nervous Nancy."

Pelosi retorted to that accusation by taking the photo that Trump posted to make his case, in which she is standing and appears to be lecturing the president, and making it her cover photo on social media profiles.