Pelosi: I am a master legislator

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that she thinks of herself as a “master legislator,” and that she felt it necessary to remain in her leadership role after Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election because she was the only senior woman in the government.

“I am a master legislator. I just love it,” she told The Washington Post in an interview. “I consider myself a weaver, like I have a loom. And I bring all these different threads together.”

Pelosi had considered stepping down from House leadership prior to the 2016 election, but ultimately decided against it after Clinton’s loss to President Trump. She has said that her decision was based on her belief that her experience would be needed in the GOP-controlled Congress.

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Some Democrats, like Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.) and Linda Sánchez (Calif.), have recently called for Pelosi to step down, and have questioned her ability to effectively lead the caucus under the Trump administration.

But the minority leader remains one of the Democratic Party’s most prolific fundraisers, and she told the Post that she is ready to shepherd the party into the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats are hoping to capitalize on Trump’s dwindling approval ratings to win back Republican-held seats in the House.

She said she is trying to keep Democrats focused on an economic message of “better jobs, better wages, better future” heading into 2018, and that the party will have to stay disciplined if it wants to retake the House.