In an emotional speech, former House Speaker John Boehner praised Nancy Pelosi during the portrait unveiling ceremony for the outgoing Speaker.
Boehner, a Republican, celebrated Pelosi, who stepped down as leader of the Democratic Party after being in the position for two decades.
The retired 73-year-old congressman shared with the audience that his daughters asked him to tell Pelosi that they admired her. At this point, he had to hold back his tears.
“My girls told me, ‘Tell the Speaker how much we admire her,’ ” Boehner said on Wednesday getting emotional. “As if you couldn’t tell, my girls are Democrats.”
Boehner served as the Speaker from 2011 to 2015. He got the gavel from Pelosi in 2011, who had served during the first half of the Obama administration.
Remembering that day, Boehner joked on how his fellow Republicans teased him about the fact that he greeted Pelosi with a hug and a kiss.
“You and I have disagreed politically on many things over the years, but we were never disagreeable to each other,” Boehner said, in a clear reference to today’s highly divisive political scenario. “You can disagree without being disagreeable.”
