Nancy Pelosi & Olivia Wilde Talk Media, 2020 Election, America's Attitude Toward Women & More Become the Fire Headlines

As part of The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment issue, this year’s guest editor, filmmaker, actress (and daughter of a Dem politico) Olivia Wilde, interviewed U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Wilde wanted to explore the phenomenon of feminine strength as it has been redefined by a new era in Hollywood, the era of the Sisterhood. Amid the impeachment drama, the highest-ranking elected woman in the history of the American government discussed powerful women, whether Hollywood activism helps or hurts and how to take down “whatever that is in the White House.”

Photo: The Hollywood Reporter (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“[Pelosi] is on the frontlines of the battle to save our nation and, in many ways, our planet from the tiny hands of a reckless maniac,” says Wilde. “It is easy for most of us in Hollywood to spend our days raging against the current national crisis, but [she] is in the thick of it, and tirelessly, fearlessly handling it.”

Here are some excerpts from the candid interview in The Hollywood Reporter with Nancy Pelosi:

On America’s attitude toward powerful women: “I do think that some people in our country have an issue with it, but I don’t think the country does. And I don’t think we can be held back by somebody else’s problem … I don’t think you wait around for people to be ready … I think that we will have a woman president, and it will be soon. I don’t know who it will be, but I do think the country is ready for it. Now, is there misogyny? Yes, there is. But we don’t agonize, we organize. You can’t worry about somebody else’s hang-up, you just have to go out there and show why you are the best.”

Photo: The Hollywood Reporter (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images)

On the record number of women in the House today: “I am proud to say we have 116 women in Congress, the first time we’ve had more than 100 in the House, point A. Point B, we’ll have that number when we observe the 100th anniversary of women having the right to vote next year. And the third point I’ll make is that of the 116 women who won, 94 of them were Democrats. Now, we’ve been working for a long time to have many more women in Congress.”

On the importance of the 2020 Presidential election: “The fate of our nation is riding on this election. We must win. Our democracy is at stake because of some of the things this president has done. We have heard people say from time to time, this is the most important election of our time. Well, this one really is.”

On the 2020 candidates: “Any one of [the Democratic candidates] would be a better president than the current occupant of the White House … Unity is absolutely essential. Some people stayed home [in 2016] because they thought [Clinton] was going to win. You can’t assume anything. I say to my colleagues: Our diversity is our strength, but our unity is our power. All of us have to get behind whomever the nominee is to ensure that our country survives [from the effects of] the past three years.”

Photo: The Hollywood Reporter (Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

On the media’s role in making Trump a reality TV star: “I do think that he was assisted by the communications industry, not just Hollywood, but the press as well, because all they do is enable him, and that is really a sad thing. I’ve said to many of my friends in the press, ‘You’re accomplices, whether you want to be or not,’ [and they say,] ‘If he’s saying it, then it’s news.’ I don’t think it’s news, but it monopolizes the airwaves … [Trump] has a tactic, one that is used by autocrats, which is, ‘Just as long as they’re talking about me, no matter if it’s bad, then you’re not talking about my opponent.’

“When [the press was] talking about him, they weren’t saying what Hillary was going to do about health care, to make our economy fair … I see what he is as an opportunity for us to have a very sharp, sharp contrast to what that is, to bring America back to a place where our hearts are full of love, for our country, for each other, and that we do not become like him in order to gain power but instead honor what our founders taught us: E pluribus unum, from many one. And so forget about him.” 

Photo (main): The Hollywood Reporter (Nolwen Cifuentes)

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