House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg a "petite woman who was a giant" in a new podcast released Monday.
Speaking with journalist Kara Swisher on the "Sway" podcast, Pelosi reacted to the Friday death of Ginsburg at age 87 and said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was out of line by saying he would move forward with a successor nomination so soon after the news was announced.
"I don't think any of us are doing very well personally. This was a petite woman who was a giant and powerhouse when it came to brilliance, strategic thinking, legal knowledge. She did more for equality for women than anyone you could name," Pelosi said.
Ginsburg, she added, "was synonymous with every good thing that comes our way as women. It's hard for me to talk about her because I personally loved her so much."
Regarding McConnell's Friday evening announcement about trying to get a successor approved before the November election, Pelosi said the timing was terrible.
"I don't think it was appropriate that within hours of her passing came forth that the leader in the Senate made his announcement," she said. "I think we do want people to rest in peace, we do want to extend condolences and sympathy to their families, we do want to absorb the shock to all of us.
"And for that statement to just trigger so much reaction I though was completely cruel and inappropriate."