Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed President Biden for not dropping out of the race sooner. In an interview with The New York Times, she said, “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”
Pelosi explained that if Biden had stepped aside earlier, there likely would have been an open primary. She added, "The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary."
Pelosi was a key figure in pushing Biden out after his poor debate performance. But, just an hour after Biden announced he was stepping down on July 21, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Within 36 hours, Harris secured the nomination with support from a majority of Democratic National Committee delegates.
Pelosi said, "Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in [a primary] and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen. We live with what happened." She noted, "Because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time."
Pelosi stressed that there had been an open process for other candidates to enter the race. "Many of us who were concerned about the election wanted to have an open process," she said. "It was an open process, anyone could have gotten in."
She continued, “Harris had the endorsement of the president, and she, politically astutely, took advantage of it and shut down—not shut down, but won the nomination. But anybody else could have gotten in.”
In an appearance on "The View," Pelosi reiterated her point. "I was one of the earlier endorsers of any of the leaders, right? Within 24 hours."
Pressed again on the issue, Pelosi remained firm. "We had an open primary and [Harris] won it. Nobody else got in the race." She added, “Yes, people could have jumped in—but she just took off with it, and actually it was a blessing. There wasn’t that much time between then and the election, and it saved time.”
The "Interview" podcast with Pelosi will be released Saturday.