After nearly four decades in public service, former House Speaker and California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi has shared what she says is her true motivation for entering politics. Pelosi, who has faced intense scrutiny for becoming a multimillionaire while in office, has long been the subject of speculation regarding her financial gains.
Critics have often alleged that she used her political position to access privileged information for stock market advantage. Others have suggested her longevity in politics was driven by a desire to oppose President Donald Trump. According to Pelosi herself, however, neither explanation is accurate.
In an interview on Jen Psaki’s The Briefing on MSNBC—shared in a clip posted to social media—Pelosi disclosed what she described as her real reason for entering the political arena. “My whole mission in politics is about the children,” Pelosi said, as the user, Western Lensman, who shared the video in the post on X wisecracked, “Her bank account would beg to differ.”
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Users on the platform were quick to stick a pin in Pelosi’s bubble. One individual asked, “Does that include all of the aborted, missing, and exploited children?” Said another X user, “I’ve never heard her once talk about ‘the children’ over her entire political career hahaha.”
Pelosi grew up in a politically active family as the youngest of seven children in Baltimore, Maryland, where her father served as mayor. She later attended college in Washington, D.C., where she met her future husband, Paul Pelosi. Early in her adult life, Pelosi focused on raising a family, giving birth to five children in just six years.
Her entry into politics began in 1976, when she used her family’s political connections to assist California Governor Jerry Brown in winning the Maryland primary during his presidential campaign, according to the BBC.
By the mid-1980s, Pelosi had steadily risen through the ranks of the Democratic Party, eventually serving as its chair. In 1987, she was elected to Congress—a role she has held ever since—ultimately becoming Speaker of the House and one of the most influential figures in modern American politics.