‘Am I a B*tch?’: In New Pelosi Film, House Speaker Muses to Daughter Over Grilling VP Pence

A new documentary will air on Tuesday about the career of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), whose four-year stint at the top of the US House of Representatives will come to a close next month.

The film is composed of footage captured by the lawmaker’s daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, and spans her most recent period as House speaker, from 2019 until 2023. The 82-year-old lawmaker previously served in the role from 2007 until 2011, during another Democratic majority.

According to Politico, which viewed the documentary “Pelosi in the House” ahead of its airing on HBO at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday evening, it includes a number of candid moments.

In one incident in April 2020, amid the massive society-wide lockdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pelosi was on a video call that included then-Vice President Mike Pence, who headed up the Trump administration’s pandemic response. As Pence spoke, the speaker tidied up her bedroom and folded laundry while her husband, investor Paul Pelosi, cooked a meal in the kitchen.

At one point, Alexandra points the camera at her mother and asks: “What is the point of this call?”

“They’re checking a box,” the lawmaker responds without breaking away from her chores.

The House speaker then unmuted herself on the call, sarcastically told Pence “this has been a useful exchange,” and then proceeded to grill him about how the administration was tracking the spread of the virus. She ended her spiel with a cheery “Happy Easter!”

“Am I a b*tch?” the elder Pelosi then asks her daughter after muting the computer. Alexandra’s answer, if any, is not recorded.

The documentary also includes numerous other candid moments, including during the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, by supporters of then-US President Donald Trump. The insurrectionists succeeded at temporarily dispersing Congress, sending lawmakers fleeing for cover, with some far-right elements seeking to detain and possibly execute senior officeholders like Pelosi and Pence.

The film is Alexandra Pelosi’s 14th for HBO. Although Politico derided the film as “a talented daughter’s flattering account of her mother’s life at the pinnacle of American politics,” she reportedly did not get explicit permission from her mother to make the film and knew little about its details.

"What's she gonna do, sue her daughter? She’s not gonna sue me,” Alexandra told Vanity Fair. “I hope. I hope.”

Following the November 2022 midterm elections, in which the Republicans narrowly won a majority in the House, Pelosi announced she would not seek a leadership position in the coming Congress, although she would retain her seat representing San Francisco Bay-area constituents. In her place, Democrats selected New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as their minority leader.