Pelosi takes swipe at Trump in her final press conference as speaker

On Thursday, in her final press conference on Capitol Hill as a leader in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a swipe at former President Donald Trump while reflecting on her legacy.

“I was speaker and minority leader under President Bush, under President Obama, under what’s-his-name,” Pelosi said, referring to Trump. “The hardest thing that I had to do is when we had a Democratic president and we were in the minority, as minority leader, was to sustain a presidential veto. Because the Republicans would roll out stuff that sounded like a chocolate sundae, but it's more like doggy doo.”

Congress has the power to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate. As Democrats were in the minority, it was difficult for them to sustain the veto.

Last month, Pelosi, 82, announced she will relinquish her leadership role after Republicans clinched majority control of the House, saying, “The hour’s come for a new generation to lead.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., was unanimously elected to succeed her.

Pelosi, the first woman elected speaker of the House, was asked what advice she would give to women who look up to her as a role model.

“The best advice I ever had that I extend to you is ‘Be yourself,’” Pelosi said. “You're the only person in the history of the world who is you. What you have is authentic, is special, is unique, and that diversity is necessary at the table.”

The speaker also said she wants women to “have confidence.”

“So sometimes when I act a little more, shall we say, like myself, it's because I want them to know it's OK to assert yourself,” Pelosi said, “to have confidence in what you bring to the table and also to understand your uniqueness.”

“I have been overwhelmed by women telling me how I've given them confidence or what a role model I have been,” she said. “And I say, 'Don't worry about any role model. Be yourself.'”