Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she believes Vice President Kamala Harris won an open primary to be the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election.
Pelosi made the comments earlier this week during an interview for a “Principals Live” event hosted by Semafor’s Kadia Goba.
“You had reportedly said that you wanted sort of an open primary if Joe Biden stepped down. Did you change your mind because you saw all the excitement around Kamala Harris?” Goba asked.
"We had an open primary and [Kamala Harris] won it. Nobody else got in the race," @SpeakerPelosi tells @kadiagoba. pic.twitter.com/y2O0JhKBgc
— Semafor (@semafor) September 18, 2024
“No, I didn’t change my mind,” Pelosi replied. “We had an open primary, and she won it. Nobody else got in the race because she was politically astute and that was the thought.”
Goba attempted to comment after Pelosi said Harris won an open primary, but Pelosi continued. The audience then applauded Pelosi’s comment, and Goba never continued with what she was trying to say.
“Let’s show our talent,” Pelosi added. “We have a great bench, all these great people in the country, and the president endorsed her, and that’s a big deal because Joe Biden is the most consequential president of modern times.”
Pelosi later repeated the claim there was an open primary but that no other candidate had entered, which is why Harris became the nominee.
“It wasn’t that we didn’t have an open president,” Pelosi said. “It’s just that nobody got in because she had a running start.”
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Biden won the Democratic Party presidential primary, receiving 87.09% of the vote with 14,465,519 votes. After a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, Biden dropped out of the race amid intense pressure from Democratic politicians, donors, and celebrities, such as George Clooney, who wrote an essay for the New York Times declaring that the Democrats needed a new nominee for president. Biden canceled his reelection bid on July 21 and endorsed Harris.
During a virtual roll-call ballot organized by the Democratic National Committee in August, Harris became the Democratic nominee without receiving any votes during a primary election.
