Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi shared her thoughts that if President Joe Biden had decided to end his reelection campaign earlier, the Democratic Party might have been able to hold a more competitive nomination process to select his successor.
“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said during an interview with the New York Times. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.”
Pelosi also expressed her belief that Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumed Democratic contender, “would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen.” She explained that Biden’s early endorsement of Harris made it nearly impossible to hold a primary at that point. “That really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.”
“I don’t think that any review of the election should be predicated on weaknesses, but strengths of Kamala Harris. She gave people hope. She caused a great deal of excitement in all this,” Pelosi remarked in her interview with the New York Times, according to the quotes provided by her office to Reuters.
Discussing a potential open primary, Pelosi said, “Kamala, I think, still would’ve won, but she may have been stronger having taken her case to the public sooner,” as quoted by her office.
At 81 years old, Biden suspended his reelection campaign in July, offering an immediate endorsement of Harris following concerns sparked by his lackluster debate performance against Trump, 78, which raised doubts about his ability to both defeat the former president and complete a second term. Pelosi was reportedly involved in behind-the-scenes efforts to encourage Biden to withdraw from the race.
After Republicans regained control of the House in the 2022 midterms, Pelosi stepped down from her leadership role but continued to serve in the House. She was reelected to a 20th term in the House on Tuesday.
{Matzav.com}