Pelosi vowed to pull Trump out of White House by his ‘little hands’, report says

'I’m counting down the hours ‘til he’s gone’, Speaker is reported to have said

House speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly dipped into the well of schoolyard insults to deride Donald Trump on his way out of the White House, saying she would pull him out by his "little hands".

The size, or otherwise, of Mr Trump's hands have been a long-running insult aimed at hitting the president where it hurts him most, right in the ego.

“I’m counting down the hours ‘til he’s gone,” Ms Pelosi told her leadership team, according to Politico. “I plan to pull him out of there by his hair, his little hands and his feet.”

While president-elect Joe Biden calls for the country to heal with unity and empathy, Ms Pelosi apparently had no such platitudes for the president during the Democrats' weekend strategising ahead of the Covid-19 relief bill.

It was the latest salvo in an on-going war between the two who have reportedly not spoken in over a year since a meeting in October 2019 where Mr Trump called Ms Pelosi either a third rate, or third grade, politician and Ms Pelosi told reporters she must "pray for his health".

Battles in the campaign have included Mr Trump appearing to snub a handshake at the State of the Union and Ms Pelosi ripping up his speech, as well as her infamous dagger clap invoking Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development.

Of all the playground insults hurled through the hallowed halls of government, Mr Trump's "little hands" continues to be a favourite of both enemies and frenemies alike.

It dates backs almost 30 years to a description of Mr Trump as a "short-fingered vulgarian" by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, who said he wrote the comment in 1988 "just to drive him a little bit crazy".

But it was popularised during the Republican presidential primary by Marco Rubio, who responded to Mr Trump's "Little Marco" insult with a more political version of "I know you are but what am I".

"He's always calling me 'little Marco', and I'll admit he's taller than me, he's like 6' 2", which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who is 5' 2"," Mr Rubio said.  

"Have you seen his hands? And you know what they say about men with small hands [pause for effect as the crowd chortled]  you can't trust them."

The ribbing may have ended there if not for Mr Trump making it an on-going issue during the Republican debates and campaign rallies. During the Fox News debate in Ohio, Mr Trump said Mr Rubio "hit' his hands but that he "guaranteed" there is no problem with the size of anything else.

"He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I have never heard of this one. Look at those hands," Mr Trump said holding up his hands to the audience. 

"Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands – if they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee you."