New York (CNN Business) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's shredding of President Trump's State of the Union speech was ripped right from Trump's playbook.

It was unprecedented behavior for a speaker, aggressively rude and unapologetically meant to rile up her base. It was divisive , but effective.

The tear seemed to get just as much morning TV attention as the content of Trump's speech. Conservatives denounced her disrespect. Liberals praised her passion. Both sides were incentivized to heap attention onto the moment. It took the Democrats three years, but they may have finally figured out how to control a news cycle in the Trump era.

Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi rips a copy of President Trump's speech after he delivers the State of the Union address

Overnight and into the morning, the video snippet was shown on a loop on TV and the web. It was, even some of Pelosi's critics begrudgingly admitted, perfect fodder for the meme wars.

"She gave us something to talk about. She knew exactly what she was doing," Fox's Steve Doocy said as he reenacted the ripping to great effect.

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