Trailblazer Nancy Pelosi to step down after two decades in Democratic leadership

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced that she is stepping down from her post as top House Democrat in order to pave the way for the next generation of leaders. The trailblazing California lawmaker shattered the glass ceiling in 2007 when she became the first woman elected as Speaker. NBC News Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss and Molly Jong Fast of Vanity Fair joined “Velshi” to discuss Pelosi’s legacy. “The founders would have loved Nancy Pelosi,” says Beschloss. “She held the torch of freedom at a time that Donald Trump was president trampling on civil liberties, restricting our elections, doing everything he could to infantilize democracy– she was the leader who stood up to that.” Jong Fast adds that Pelosi’s background as a homemaker prepared her for a life in office, allowing her to whip up votes and negotiate between disparate factions: “I think her mothering actually, ultimately helped her…. She’s been this kind of amazing phoenix in the Democratic party.”