Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday responded to recent comments by former first lady Michelle Obama, who said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman president, as reported [1] by Fox News.
Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Pelosi questioned why a woman commander-in-chief would be unacceptable and pushed back on the idea that the public is unwilling to support female leadership in the Oval Office.
When Cooper asked whether she agreed with Obama’s remarks, Pelosi said she respected the former first lady but disagreed with the conclusion.
“Well, I hope — I mean, I respect her and I know that view is one that we all are saddened by, but we — I think we have to change,” Pelosi said.
She added that throughout her career she has heard “every excuse in the book,” including claims that women could not serve as commander-in-chief. “Well, why not?” she asked. “‘Well, I served in the military.’ Well, OK. And so? So do women serve in the military.”
Pelosi said she believed the United States would have elected a woman president before ever seeing a woman serve as speaker of the House.
She noted that becoming speaker was not a role she had set out to pursue. Cooper asked why she thought a female president might have come first, and Pelosi said she believed the American public was more open to the idea of a woman in the Oval Office.
“Just the thought of it is so exciting and the message it sends to the world,” she said. She added that the House of Representatives had remained “male-dominated for hundreds of years,” and recalled resistance when she first ran for party leadership.
“They said, ‘Who said she could run?’” she told Cooper. Pelosi recalled her own response:
“Oh, poor babies. I’m not waiting for you to tell me I can run.”
Pelosi also said there is a “pecking order” among men in Washington who feel entitled to certain positions in government, adding that this dynamic “still exists really on the Republican side.”
She said younger women frequently tell her they aspire to become president. “Now, people say to me, kids say to me, students, they say, ‘It’s nice you were speaker, but I’m going to be president,’” Pelosi said. “I said, ‘Well, I certainly hope so.’”
Obama made her comments on Nov. 14 during an event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while promoting her new book, “The Look.” Addressing a crowd of women, she said Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman to the White House, citing Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” Obama said. She added, “Don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready [3] for a woman. You are not.”
Obama also said she believes many men in the United States are not comfortable with a woman leading them. “You know, we’ve got a lot of growing up to do, and there’s still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it,” she said.