In what may go down as one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in modern political history, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the podium this week to deliver yet another furious tirade against President Donald Trump—only to trip spectacularly over her own ignorance of the very Constitution she once swore to uphold.
With cameras rolling and her usual entourage of glassy-eyed Democrat lawmakers nodding along like hypnotized bobbleheads, Pelosi confidently instructed Americans to “read Article 10 of the Constitution,” warning that Trump had violated “section 12046” of that imaginary clause by deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid riots spiraling out of control. There was just one small problem: Article 10 of the U.S. Constitution does not exist.
The Constitution, that foundational document that governs our republic and which Pelosi, as a long-serving member of Congress, might be expected to have at least skimmed once or twice, contains exactly seven articles—not ten.
These articles outline the structure of the federal government, dividing power between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. There is no Article 10. There never was an Article 10. There will not be an Article 10 unless someone rewrites the Constitution with a Sharpie and a cocktail napkin.
But that didn’t stop Pelosi from doubling down. As she leaned into the microphone—eyebrows arched, voice shaking with performative outrage—she solemnly declared that Trump had violated “section 12046 of Article 10,” insisting that the president cannot activate the National Guard “without the consent of the governor.”
Behind her, a half-dozen Democrat lawmakers nodded earnestly, as if she had just quoted scripture or read aloud from the lost scrolls of Abraham Lincoln.
And so the scene was set: one of the most powerful Democrats in American history inventing imaginary laws while her party dutifully nodded in theatrical agreement.
This was not simply a gaffe. This was a full-blown detachment from reality—one that would have prompted national mockery if committed by any Republican with a surname that rhymes with "rump."
Now, to be fair to the Speaker Emerita, she probably meant to reference Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which does, in fact, govern the use of the armed forces and includes provisions for the activation of the National Guard in federal service.
But even if we give her that generous benefit of the doubt, her claim was still factually incorrect. Presidents do have the authority to federalize National Guard troops without a governor’s permission in specific circumstances—particularly when federal law, property, or national security is at stake.
This isn’t new. This isn’t radical. It isn’t even particularly controversial. In fact, one of the Democrats’ own icons, President Lyndon B. Johnson, used that very authority to federalize the Alabama National Guard during the 1960s in order to protect civil rights protesters marching in the face of segregationist violence.
Did Johnson wait patiently for the governor of Alabama to say, “Sure, come on down?” No. He acted swiftly, invoking Title 10, because the situation demanded presidential leadership.
Pelosi, however, wasn’t interested in facts. She was interested in showmanship. With cities burning, federal agents being attacked, and Americans calling for safety and order, she reached into her dusty handbag of rhetorical gimmicks and pulled out a nonexistent Article 10—much like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, only less impressive and far more embarrassing.
The scene was made worse by the zombie-like response of her Democrat colleagues, who stood behind her with solemn expressions and obedient head nods, apparently unaware—or unconcerned—that their revered leader was quoting from a part of the Constitution that exists only in her head.
None of them had the courage—or the basic constitutional literacy—to lean over and whisper, “Nancy, I think you might be confusing the Constitution with the restaurant menu at Joe’s Crab Shack.”
It was the political equivalent of an emperor parading through the streets without clothes, and the Democratic Party applauding his fashion sense.
What’s worse is that this isn’t a one-off Pelosi brain fog. This is part of a pattern. Over the years, Pelosi has confused the Affordable Care Act with the Declaration of Independence, claimed that walls don’t work while living behind one, and famously told Americans “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.” She is, by all appearances, a woman whose relationship with coherent logic is more estranged than Hunter Biden and an IRS auditor.
And yet, this is the figurehead the left keeps trotting out whenever they need moral grandstanding and shaky legal pontification. Pelosi’s decades in Congress have not translated into an understanding of how the Constitution actually works, nor has it stopped her from confidently misleading millions with invented citations and bogus claims.
The sad truth is that if a high school student made the same mistake in civics class—arguing passionately about Article 10—they’d be corrected, marked down, and gently advised to revisit the Federalist Papers.
But when Pelosi does it, the press nods along, headlines frame it as “inspired,” and her fellow Democrats act like she just decoded the Rosetta Stone.
Of course, the deeper tragedy here is that her invented constitutional fantasy came in response to President Trump’s decision to send troops to restore order—not to escalate violence, not to seize power, but to defend federal agents and buildings under attack.
When peaceful protest morphs into violent rioting, looting, and attempted arson, the president has not only the authority but the obligation to respond. If governors won’t act, the president must. That’s not tyranny; it’s leadership.
But Pelosi, as always, frames any action by Trump as inherently illegal—whether it’s enforcing immigration law, protecting courthouses, or appointing judges.
She lives in a world where Trump is always wrong, regardless of the law, precedent, or reality. And when she runs out of real legal arguments, she invents fake ones—like Article 10 and its mythical “section 12046,” which sounds more like a zip code than a constitutional provision.
The mainstream media, predictably, ignored the blunder. If Trump had misquoted the Constitution or cited a nonexistent article, we’d still be in a 24-hour media cycle of breathless panels featuring constitutional scholars, emergency think pieces, and Twitter mobs demanding his removal from office.
But Pelosi invents a legal clause, and the press calls it “passionate defense of democratic norms.” The double standard is as loud as it is absurd.
Meanwhile, regular Americans who actually value the Constitution and know it has only seven articles are left to watch in disbelief. They see their cities burned, their police demoralized, and their property destroyed—only to be told by out-of-touch elites like Pelosi that the real threat is the man trying to stop it all.
They’re told to listen to the woman who thinks Article 10 is real and that the National Guard needs a permission slip from a governor before they can protect a federal courthouse.
Nancy Pelosi’s fictional Article 10 episode isn’t just a gaffe—it’s a symbol of everything wrong with the Democratic Party’s approach to governance: arrogant, uninformed, and utterly divorced from constitutional reality.
It’s theater masquerading as law. It’s ignorance propped up by applause. And it’s exactly why voters have grown increasingly weary of being lectured by political relics who confuse their talking points with constitutional law.
The Constitution doesn’t need imaginary amendments or fabricated sections. It needs leaders who actually understand it. Unfortunately, Pelosi continues to prove she is not one of them.
And the only thing more embarrassing than her performance was the eerie silence from her party, who nodded along not because they believed her, but because the truth doesn’t matter anymore—only the narrative does.
Pelosi may have invented Article 10. But the American people haven’t forgotten Articles 1 through 7. And come November, they just might decide it’s time to remind Washington what the real Constitution says—no fiction required.
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