After Kamala Harris's massive defeat against Republican leader Donald Trump in the US presidential elections in 2024, Democrats turn on each other with many pointing fingers at President Joe Biden.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Biden's slowness in exiting the presidential race cost the Democrats dearly.
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While speaking in a New York Times podcast, Pelosi said, "Had the president gotten out sooner...there may have been other candidates in the race. The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, there would be an open primary."
Nancy Pelosi was among the key Democrat figures who insisted on Biden to step aside from the presidential race. She had expressed her strong belief and confidence in Harris. "We live with what happened," she said.
Pelosi also added that since Biden endorsed Harris immediately after his exit, it was almost impossible to have a primary at that time. "If it had been much earlier, it would have been different."
However, even after Trump's historic comeback, Pelosi supported Harris and said that the outcome of the election results could only strengthen her. "She gave people hope. She caused a great deal of excitement in all this."
Biden, 81, exited from presidential race in July after a poor debate performance against Trump sparked concerns about whether he could beat him.
Pelosi left her leadership post in the House after Republicans won control of the chamber in the 2022 elections.
Meanwhile, president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to help America heal. "We have a country that needs help and it needs help very badly. We're going to fix our borders, we're going to fix everything about our country," he said.
Also, amid the presidential win, the judge overseeing Trump's 2020 election interference case cancelled remaining court deadlines. Trump's victory means that the Justice Department believes he can no longer face prosecution in accordance with department legal opinions meant to shield presidents from criminal charges while in office, reported the Associated Press.