Nancy Pelosi’s Daughter Slams NYT over ‘Misogynistic’ Photo of Her Mother

Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), slammed the New York Times on Monday over what she considers a “misogynistic” photo of her mother, featuring the speaker’s heels.

The younger Pelosi responded to a Times op-ed, which argued that the speaker should not be the second in line to the presidency, particularly because the speaker could hold a different party affiliation than the president. A speaker of a different party taking over, one could argue, would undermine the will of the people.

Per the Times:

It’s true: Under a 1947 federal law, the speaker of the House is second in line to the presidency, after the vice president, even if she or he is of a different party than the president. How can that be? Don’t the American people choose presidents largely because of their parties?

Yes, they do, which is why the prospect of Ms. Pelosi, the veteran San Francisco Democrat, sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the middle of a Republican administration should trouble anyone who values stability and democratic legitimacy. The scenario could well be enough to prevent Republican senators from voting to oust Mr. Trump, even if they are convinced that the case for his removal is strong. That case is strong, without question — and still it would be understandable for them to balk.

This is one of many compelling reasons the speaker of the House, like any member of Congress, should be nowhere near the line of succession to the presidency. As Dwight Eisenhower said after he left office, “I believe that if the electorate says that such-and-such a party should have the White House for four years, it ought to have the White House for four years.”

The piece’s author, Jesse Wegman, a member of the editorial board, argues that Congress should pass a law removing lawmakers from the line of succession, “replacing them with cabinet members, including the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, and the attorney general.”

However, Pelosi did not address the content of the article. Rather, she took issue with the photo that accompanied the Times’ piece, which featured the speaker’s heels:

“Hey @deanbaquet could you @nytimes be any more misogynistic than to portray the female House Speaker with a photo of her calves and heels? #EverydaySexism,” she tweeted:

Pelosi also implied that the female presidential candidates – such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) – are facing an uphill battle to defeat Trump and their Democrat male challengers and “must break through the #everydaysexism to be #electable and WIN”:

That aside, the prospect of “President Pelosi” has been a subject of conversation in recent weeks, as the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry moves along. The Washington Post in September speculated that Pelosi could become president in the event that both Trump and Pence are removed from office, although authors admitted that it is a “far-fetched” scenario.

Similarly, CNN featured an op-ed last week, imagining a scenario in which Pelosi takes office.

“What might follow could be a double impeachment scenario that would make heads spin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the president of the United States,” contributor and CNN legal analyst Paul Callan mused. “After Pence, she’s next in the line of succession.”