Nancy Pelosi Says Woman Will Be President, Maybe Not in Her Lifetime [WATCH]

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believes the United States will eventually elect a woman president, but suggested it may not happen during her lifetime, arguing that institutional resistance in Washington remains stronger than opposition among voters, as reported by Fox News.

Pelosi made the remarks in an interview with USA Today’s Susan Page published Saturday, where she was asked directly whether she thought a woman would reach the Oval Office while she is still alive.

“I certainly hope so,” Pelosi said. “I always thought that a woman would be President of the United States long before a woman would be Speaker of the House.”

Pelosi, a California Democrat who became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House nearly 20 years ago, said she believes the presidency is more attainable for women than leadership roles within Congress itself.

“I think it’s probably — maybe not in my lifetime, but within this next generation, there’ll be a woman,” she told Page.

Reflecting on her early years in Congress, Pelosi said she encountered resistance from entrenched power structures when she sought leadership roles.

She described those obstacles as more severe than the commonly cited “glass ceiling.”

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“It’s not a glass ceiling, it’s a marble ceiling,” Pelosi said.

She argued that voters are more open to electing a woman president than lawmakers are to elevating women within Congress.

“I thought certainly the American people are far ahead of the Congress in terms of their acceptance or their enthusiasm for a woman to be President of the United States,” Pelosi said.

Since Pelosi became speaker, two women have been nominated for president by major political parties.

Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic nomination in 2016, and former Vice President Kamala Harris became the party’s nominee in 2024. Both lost their general election races to President Donald Trump.

According to USA Today, Clinton’s defeat in 2016 played a role in Pelosi’s decision to delay her planned retirement from Congress.

The outlet reported that those losses “tempered Pelosi’s optimism, or at least her timetable, for seeing a woman in the Oval Office.”

Pelosi echoed similar views last month during an appearance on CNN, where she pushed back on comments made by former first lady Michelle Obama suggesting Americans are “not ready” to elect a woman president.

When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper whether she agreed with that assessment, Pelosi challenged the premise.

“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.

“The fact is that I’ve heard every excuse in the book, you know, like, ‘I’m not sure a woman could be commander-in-chief.’ Well, why not?”

She continued by addressing arguments tied to military experience.

“‘Well, I served in the military.’ Well, OK. And so? So do women serve in the military,” Pelosi said.

Pelosi reiterated that she had long believed a woman would become president before a woman became speaker, noting that she never initially set out to lead the House.

“I always thought we would have a woman president long before we had a woman Speaker of the House,” she said. “I didn’t set out to be speaker.”

When Cooper asked why she believed the presidency would be more attainable, Pelosi again pointed to voter readiness compared with Washington’s internal culture.

“Because I thought the American people were much more ready for a woman president,” Pelosi said. “Just the thought of it is so exciting, and the message it sends to the world.”

She added that Congress remains shaped by longstanding power dynamics.

“This place — I mean, it’s shall we say — it’s male-dominated for hundreds of years,” Pelosi said.

Recalling her leadership bid, she added, “When I ran for leadership, they said, ‘Who said she could run?’ Oh, poor babies. I’m not waiting for you to tell me I can run.”

Pelosi also argued that a “pecking order” among male lawmakers persists in Washington, saying it “still exists really on the Republican side.”

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