Pelosi pushes back on Michelle Obama’s claim America isn’t ready for a woman president: ‘Why not?’

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed back against Michelle Obama's recent remark that Americans were “not ready” to elect a woman president.

The former first lady had pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris’s loss in the 2024 presidential election as proof that the country was still reluctant to embrace a woman as commander in chief, adding that many men remained uncomfortable with female leadership at the highest level.

Nancy Pelosi respects Obama but questions objections to a female commander-in-chief

Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Pelosi said she held great respect for Michelle Obama but believed the sentiment deserved to be challenged. According to Pelosi, she has long heard a range of objections about a woman serving as commander in chief — including claims that only those with military backgrounds would be suitable.

Pelosi countered that argument directly. “Well, why not?” she said, recalling how some critics cite military experience. “‘Well, I served in the military.’ Well, OK. And so? So do women serve in the military.”

Pelosi added that while she understood the disappointment behind Obama’s remarks, she believed it was essential to push for a cultural shift. “I respect her and I know that view is one that we all are saddened by, but we — I think we have to change,” she said.

Nancy Pelosi says she expected woman president before woman speaker

Pelosi reflected on her own career and said she once assumed the United States would elect a woman president long before the country saw a woman speaker of the House — a role she ultimately held.

Cooper pressed her on why she believed that. “Because I thought the American people were much more ready for a woman president,” she said. “Just the thought of it is so exciting and the message it sends to the world.”

She contrasted that optimism with the male-dominated culture of the House of Representatives, which she said resisted her rise in leadership. “Oh, poor babies, I’m not waiting for you to tell me I can run,” Pelosi recalled.

Nancy Pelosi highlights optimism about next generation of women

Pelosi said some resistance in Washington stemmed from a “pecking order” upheld by men who felt entitled to positions of power, a mindset she argued “still exists really on the Republican side."

Still, she ended on a hopeful note. Pelosi said young women today often tell her they want to be 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,’” she said. “I said, ‘Well, I certainly hope so.'"

Michelle Obama made the comments on November 14

Michelle Obama made her remarks on November 14 during an event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while promoting her new book, 'The Look.' She cited Harris’s defeat to Donald Trump as an example of the political barriers women still face.

"As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” she said. She added that speculation about her own political future ignored a reality that “a lot of men do not feel like they can be led by a woman,” arguing that the country still had “a lot of growing up to do."