Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi revealed Monday that she sees herself in female freshman Democratic lawmakers such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
“Here’s what I see myself in them as: When I came to Congress I had no intention of running for office, shy person that I have always been. I was chair of the [California Democratic] Party, always advancing other people,” Pelosi said while being interviewed by The Washington Post. “I loved that because I cared about the causes of the Democratic Party, about fairness in our economy.”
Pelosi appeared on the cover of the March 2019 issue of ‘Rolling Stone’ alongside Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jahana Hayes to celebrate women shaping the future.
Nancy Pelosi, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Jahana Hayes appear on our #WomenShapingtheFuture cover. We talked to them about Trump, how women are changing Congress, the state of our country and more https://t.co/b2Wty5titb pic.twitter.com/6HLM75fn7b
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) February 27, 2019
“So what I see, and I say this to them: I was you. I used to carry the [protest] signs pushing strollers. … And as an advocate, relentless, persistent, dissatisfied always,” Pelosi said. “But when you cross over the threshold and come to Congress, you can bring those enthusiasms, those priorities, your knowledge, your vision, your plan. But you have to want to get results. You have to get results. Then, you were trying to impact others making decisions.”
“Now you are that person. So [my] being a progressive, a liberal from San Francisco, they can’t go any place I haven’t been philosophically,” she continued. “So I think I have a good simpatico with a lot of them because, again, that’s who I was.” (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Doesn’t Want To Impeach Trump: He’s ‘Not Worth It’)
The top ranking Democratic congresswoman has also come to the defense of Omar after her repeated anti-Semitic comments. Omar faced massive backlash when she accused Jews of having a “dual loyalty” to Israel, an ages-old anti-Semitic canard. Pelosi backed Omar, who she claimed was not anti-Semitic, but rather simply “doesn’t understand” what her words mean.
“The young women today, though, coming in … the way they balance family and children and home, I’m in awe of them,” Pelosi added. “I’m in awe of them.”
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