OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 6:22 PM PT – Thursday, December 22, 2022
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered her final news conference before the House majority will shift over to Republicans in the coming New Year.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) is stepping down and Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) will take over as Minority Leader in January. Pelosi will participate in Congress as a rank-and-file member.
“As Speaker of the House, I have awesome power. As I’m transitioning to a different, new role, I expect to have strong influence. But not on my members but just in terms of encouraging more women, for example, to run,” Pelosi said. “The Speaker of the House is a very big job and just wrapping it up will take time.”
At the conference on Thursday, the Democrat spoke about some historic moments she was a part of over the past few days. This included Zelensky’s speech, the final report from the Jan. 6th Committee, and the passing of the $1.7 trillion Omnibus bill.
The congresswoman was the first ever female Speaker of the House. Pelosi stated on her way out she would maintain “strong influence” and back a new era of female leaders in support of the “integrity of the institution.”
As a role model to many leading women, she left them with a piece of advice.
“I say the best advice I ever had that I extend to you is: Be yourself. You’re the only person in the history of the world who was you. I get overwhelmed by women telling me how I’ve given them confidence or a role model and I said, ‘Don’t worry about any role model. Be yourself,’” Pelosi said.
However, the 82-year-old could not resist taking one final strike at former President Donald Trump.