House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the opportunity during a press conference to point out an obstacle Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) may have faced during her campaign for the presidency.
When asked what Warren’s withdrawal from the race says about the willingness of Americans and the Democratic party to put a woman at the top of the ticket, Pelosi said on Thursday, “I do think there’s a certain element of misogyny that is there. And some of it isn’t really mean spirited it just isn’t their experience.”
She went on to explain that many who have “strong” mothers, sisters and daughters still “have their own insecurities” about electing a woman for the presidency.
Earlier on, she cited her own experience as House speaker, “Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman I almost cry because I wish that were not true. I so wish we had a woman president of the United States and we came very close to doing that.”
See her comments below (starting at 24:35):
Warren was among the five other female candidates that started out in this race including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Ca.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), author Marianne Williamson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
Gabbard is still in the race running alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden. She was only able to win two pledged delegates from American Samoa as of her Super Tuesday showing.
Pelosi has not endorsed any candidate and took the opportunity to say, “Make no mistake, we are for the winner… the person who wins the nomination and we respect what the public has to say about that.”
While Warren was unable to secure the nomination, Pelosi recognized that all of the female candidates helped to be “trailblazers” for possibly another woman in the coming elections.