Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday could barely contain himself as he gushed to Nancy Pelosi about the historic nature of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. Stephanopoulos, who previously worked for Bill Clinton, wondered about Hillary: “You were the first female Speaker of the House.... What does it mean to have the first female nominee for a major party?”
Unsurprisingly, Pelosi was “excited.” The GMA co-host, who in 2015 secretly gave $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation, pushed the idea of two liberal females on the ticket: “Everyone is looking ahead to the next steps some people saying two is even better than one. Elizabeth Warren joining Hillary Clinton on the ticket?”
During the 2008 campaign, Stephanopoulos and other GMA journalists repeatedly referred to an Obama/Clinton pairing as a “dream ticket.” So, perhaps he’ll bring back that phrase.
At one point, Stephanopoulos wondered why Pelosi wasn’t even more enthusiastic about Clinton: “Neither you nor President Obama have endorsed yet. Are you prepared to embrace Hillary Clinton as your party's nominee?”
On January 19, 2007, the journalists were just as excited when liberal Pelosi took over as Speaker of the House. Then co-host Diane Sawyer lauded the Democrat for, of all things, picking up trash:
DIANE SAWYER: We're walking along with the camera, she looks at the carpet. It has lint on it, little scraps of paper. She can't stand it. She gets down and cleans the carpet so we could walk. And she looks up at me and says, ‘It’s just the bonus of having a female Speaker of the House.
ROBIN ROBERTS: Yeah. Don’t think any of the guys did that. All right, Diane. Have a safe trip back home.
DAVID MUIR: A clean rotunda on Capitol Hill.
ROBERTS: Got to love it!
A transcript of the June 7 GMA segment is below:
GMA
6/7/16
7:07:40 to 7:10:31
2 minutes and 31 secondsSTEPHANOPOULOS: We are joined now by the Democrats's leader in the House Nancy Pelosi. Madam leader, thank you for joining us this morning.
NANCY PELOSI: Good morning.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You see the numbers right there. Hillary Clinton, according to the AP, has clinched the nomination. Now, neither you nor President Obama have endorsed yet. Are you prepared to embrace Hillary Clinton as your party’s nominee?
PELOSI: Well, I'm a voter in California and I have voted for Hillary Clinton for president of the United States and proud to endorse her for that position. But I hasten to say that it's not over till it's over. Californians haven't voted. Nor have others in five states. So while the nomination may be there in the numbers in terms of super delegates, I didn't endorse yet because I am a super delegate and I think that the matter should be determined by the voters in the states.
STEPHANOPOULOS: As you know, Bernie Sanders has said no matter what happens tonight he's going to try to flip the super delegates between now and the convention in order to get the nomination. His argument is he can do better in the fall against Donald Trump. What do you make of that?
PELOSI: Well, let's see what happens. I think he's also said let's see what happens tonight and we'll go from there. Bernie knows better than anyone what's on the line in the election and that we at some point have to unify as we go forward. He wants to influence the platform. I think that's fine.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if he keeps on going, does it hurt the party?
PELOSI: Well, I think that he'll go forward in I way that will be constructive to the party because as you know I've been involved a long time, as have you. I’ve never seen such a polarized situation where the Republican Party is so divided itself. They can't even pass their own budget, much less anything where we can find a compromise between the parties which is our responsibility.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You were the first female Speaker of the House.
PELOSI: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What does it mean to have the first female nominee for a major party?
PELOSI: Well, it’s very exciting. But let me say of Hillary Clinton, it's wonderful that she's a woman. It's fabulous that we would have a woman president and I believe she will walk into that Oval Office one of the best prepared people to do so in our country's history. However, it's because she is the best, not because she's a woman. However, having said that, pretty exciting and I can say, having been elected — chosen as Speaker in the Congress, the response from the public is so wonderful that you've broken another — I say marble ceiling in the Congress. You've been there. You know it's a very male-dominated place.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It was a big moment when you became Speaker, no question about that. Now where everyone is looking ahead to the next steps, some people saying two is even better than one. Elizabeth Warren joining Hillary Clinton on the ticket?
PELOSI: We've had two men over and over again for hundreds of years. I think two women, whoever they may be, that would be fabulous, as well. But Hillary Clinton will choose the person that she feels most comfortable with.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Madam leader, thanks for your time this morning.
