The Hill News

Gender trumps political affiliation, one Democratic congresswoman said on Thursday.

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said that if Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) had faced a similar situation to that of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), she would have spoken out in her defense, too.

"If Bachmann was trashed by a colleague in the vicious way W-Schultz was, I would speak up as well," Speier tweeted in response to a follower's question.

Speier participated in a press conference of House Democratic women on Wednesday calling on Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) to apologize to Wasserman Schultz for what they labeled his sexist comments.

West sent Wasserman Schultz an email Tuesday in which he called her "vile, despicable" and "not a Lady."