Hours after a video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping her copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech went viral, Arabic-speaking commentators took to social media wondering about the legality of her surprising action and the consequences she could have faced if this incident happened in a Middle Eastern country.

نانسي بيلوسي رئيسة مجلس النواب الأمريكي تمزق خطاب الرئيس ترامب بعد انتهائه من إلقائه وترميه في القمامة ثم تذهب آمنة مطمئنة إلى منزلها دون الخوف من الاعتقال والاختفاء في غياهب السجون pic.twitter.com/yGbgZ2K4r9 — Ahmed Yusuf (@AhmedYusufm) February 5, 2020

Translation: "Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi ripped President Trump's speech as soon as he finished it. Now she'll go safely to her house not fearing of getting arrested and spending the rest of her life in jail"

The video prompted mixed reactions among Arab social media users, with many people notably drawing comparisons between the possible consequences she might face in the US as opposed to what a politician could face in a Middle Eastern country for acting similarly. Comments aimed at highlighting the different degrees of freedoms granted to people in the US and the Arabic-speaking world in regard to treating heads of states.

Some users reflected on Pelosi's video asking whether a house speaker in the Arab World would ever be able to do the same and whether or not they would face serious consequences like ending up in jail or maybe killed in some cases.

لو في دولة عربية ورقة واحدة تسقط على الأرض يكون مصير من اسقطها الإعدام

طواغيت العربان متى يتعلمون معنى الديموقراطية 🤐 — mubarak al-abdullah (@bobrzaza) February 5, 2020

Translation: "In an Arab country, if someone dropped one page of that speech on the floor by mistake they would be executed. When will Arab tyrants learn the true meaning of democracy?"

بس في لبنان الاعتراض يتم من خلال اغتيلات مو تمزيق اوراق 🤷🏻‍♀️ — Ruba Alblowi (@ralblowi) February 5, 2020

Translation: "In Lebanon, objections are usually expressed in assassinations not ripping papers"

Additionally, many social media users linked Pelosi's response to an earlier moment where Trump seemed to ignore her while she tried to shake his hand, saying that this was a response to him disregarding her.

لإنه قهرها في بداية الجلسة حين دخل القاعة وسلمها نسخة من الخطاب اللي بيلقيه فمدت يدها لتصافحه فتجاهلها وألقى خطابه

تقول هي بعد ما سألوها عن تمزيق الخطاب

إنه هذا أقل شيء أعمله مقابل تصرفه واعتبر تصرفي هذا مهذباً..

ترامب وبيلوسي شيل وحط

بس في النهاية كلهم يعملون لصالح بلادهم — محمد أبوبكر (@abubakr312) February 5, 2020

Translation: "Because he misbehaved at the beginning when he walked in, handed her the speech copy and ignored her when she initiated a handshake."

العين بالعين !!

رفض مصافحتها وتضمن خطابه تزييفا في بعض الأمور مثل التأمين الصحي ...الخ فأرادت التعبير عن رفضها لسلوكه وماجاء بخطابه بطريقتها الخاصة !!😇 — الصراحة راحة!! (@BestPolicy77) February 5, 2020

Meanwhile, many users seemed unimpressed by her reaction, explaining that it doesn't represent a very good image of the US. Some users also suggested that Pelosi should be held accountable for her action, as "it's more of an insult to her own country".

Translation: "An eye for an eye! He refused to shake her hand. His speech included misleading information in many issues like healthcare, so she expressed her rejection of what his speech included in her own way."

منافقه تسبه في كل القنوات والصحف وبكل بساطه تجي تصافحه والله انها مثل لبعض المنافقين في حياتنا — بنت عبداللّهN18 (@8sm8loli) February 5, 2020

Translation: "She's a hypocrite! She smears him all over the media but tries to shake his hand here!"

للمعلوميه ترامب يقدر يقاضي بيلوسي لتمزيق الخطاب هذا برتوكول المصافحة ماهي مطلوبه مع العلم انه ما صافح أيضا نائبه قبلها — سعيد القحطاني (@sss948618) February 5, 2020

Translation: "Just so you know, he can sue her for ripping the speech because it's against the protocol. He didn't shake hands with her but also he didn't shake hands with the VP either."

لو كنت أمريكيا لطالبت بمحاكمة هذه البيلوسي وإعفائها من منصبها ..



انها تحط من قدر وطنها وقيادته المنتخبه

ولذلك يجب ردعها .. — سعد الحارثي (@ss1dd2eda) February 5, 2020

Translation: "If I were an American, I would have called for holding her accountable and removing her from Congress. She's insulting her own nation and her elected president and must be stopped".