Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) scolded NBC reporter Luke Russert Wednesday for what she called an "offensive" question about whether her age is a hindrance for the strength of the Democratic Party.
"Some of your colleagues privately say that your decision to stay on prohibits the party from having a younger leadership and hurts the party in the long term,” Russert asked. "What’s your response?"
"Next," Pelosi answered, waving her hand as women from the House Democratic Caucus booed and hissed behind her.
The 13-term Democrat
announced during a Wednesday press conference that she will submit her name to stay on as House minority leader.
"No, excuse me,” Russert said. "You, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, you’re all over 70. Is your decision to stay on prohibiting younger members for moving forward?”
“So you’re suggesting that everybody step aside?” Pelosi answered. "Let’s for a moment honor it as a legitimate question, although it’s quite offensive. You don’t realize that, I guess.
"The fact is, is that everything I have done in my, I guess almost decade now, of leadership is to elect younger and newer people to the Congress," she continued.
"In my own experience, it was very important to me to elect young women ... I was blessed to have that opportunity to sequentially raise my family and then come to Congress. But I wanted women to be here in greater numbers at an earlier age so that their seniority would start to account much sooner."
