The California Democrat, who became the first female speaker of the House after the 2006 elections, said some of the bias against female presidential candidates isn’t “mean spirited” and reflects more deep-seated gender divisions in society.

“Many of them will tell you, they have a strong mom, they have strong sisters,” Pelosi said in her first public remarks since the fight for the Democratic nomination was effectively winnowed down to two men.

Warren dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday after a disappointing finish on Super Tuesday, turning the 2020 race into a faceoff between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden.

Warren is one of a half-dozen female candidates who ran for president in 2020, the most women ever seeking a major party’s nomination. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropped out of the race earlier this week, months after the exits of Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and self-help author Marianne Williamson.

One woman remains in the race, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), though she has won just a single delegate compared with the hundreds collected by Sanders and Biden.

Pelosi added that she “never thought” that the House would elect a female speaker before the country elected a female president.

Pelosi has not endorsed in the 2020 election and has said Democrats will wholeheartedly embrace the eventual nominee. The California Democrat added that any of the women who ran in the ongoing election could have beaten President Donald Trump and will serve as “trailblazers” for women looking to run in future presidential elections.

Hillary Clinton — who became the first woman to become the presidential nominee of a major party in 2016 — led the way for the most recent crop of candidates, Pelosi said, and now Warren and the others can pave the way for the next round.

“I don’t know whether men think about being president from the day they’re born and starting running then, but I don’t know that women do that,” Pelosi said. “Maybe someone should.”

