Nancy Pelosi confirmed what many suspected: she hasn’t spoken to Joe Biden since nudging him out of the 2024 race. Pelosi, the former Speaker and Democratic power player, took center stage in convincing Biden to step aside, sparking a massive shift in the race after Biden’s rough debate showing against Trump and escalating doubts over his age and readiness. When asked if she and Biden had spoken since, Pelosi admitted, “Not since then, no. But I’m prayerful about it.”
Pelosi’s decision was about strategy, not sentimentality. “Elections are about winning,” she said. “I decided a while ago that Donald Trump will never set foot in the White House again…so every decision must favor winning. And that starts with the candidate.” Biden, she claims, made his own call to step down, though Pelosi acknowledged the weight of her influence on the process. For her, Biden’s contributions and legacy as president were invaluable, and she wanted him to be remembered as one of the country’s consequential leaders, not a contender facing uphill odds. She stated, “I didn’t see his legacy surviving the course the election was on. My call was to set us on a better course.”
Pelosi is now betting on Kamala Harris, the current Democratic nominee, to chart that course and believes that Harris’s strengths in policy, strategy, and presentation make her uniquely fit for the White House. “I think this is a very different race than Hillary Clinton ran,” Pelosi remarked, showing confidence in Harris’s potential. Pelosi has always believed that America was ready for a female president before it was ready for a female Speaker. “In Congress, they’d tell me there’s been a pecking order of men waiting for their turn. And I’d say, ‘Interesting. We’ve been waiting over 200 years.’”
While Pelosi stays out of the spotlight, Harris is making her case directly to voters, promising a new path forward. Meanwhile, Trump is also ramping up his campaign, targeting battleground states as polling suggests the race is tight. Despite polling uncertainties, Harris’s campaign advisor, David Plouffe, pushed back against recent numbers, calling many public polls “horses***” and urging voters to dismiss figures that don’t account for ground realities.
Pelosi’s intervention to ensure Biden’s legacy, alongside Harris’s drive for the White House, leaves the Democratic base energized but apprehensive as November looms. As the election inches closer, all eyes are on Harris to see if she can rally voters, redefine the party, and keep Trump at bay—a feat Pelosi is betting on, despite her uncharted path with Biden.
