Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the 2024 presidential election has been a hard hit for the Democratic Party, leading to numerous reports theorizing what cost the career public servant command of the White House.
Among the floating theories is that her truncated campaign was a major contributing factor to her opponent, Republican nominee Donald Trump, securing enough votes to regain control of the Oval Office four years after his first reelection bid.
In a New York Times podcast interview published on Saturday (Nov. 9), former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi hit back at the notion that Harris was snubbed a real opportunity at winning. “I don’t think she was set up to fail,” Pelosi said. The former prosecutor entered the race in July following President Joe Biden’s departure.
She received the party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August, along with the support of multiple Republican senators who staunchly oppose Trump’s politics. She added that just two days removed from Election Day, “There’ll be many reviews of timing and the who, what, when, why and where as we go forward. And books will be written about it. The fact is she did a great job with the time constraint that she had.”
Pelosi also candidly noted that, “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race. Kamala, I think, still would have won, but she may have been stronger, having taken her case to the public sooner.”
The veteran California representative praised Harris for giving voters hope and evoking excitement. However, before Biden ended his reelection efforts, Pelosi was among the party’s members who expressed concern about the president’s ability to win a second term. Following a June debate, public concerns about his cognitive aptitude came into question. Pelosi said, “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” but it simply was not an option three and a half months out from ballots being cast.
“We’re not here to agonize,” she offered up. Instead, “We’re here, again, to organize on how we go forward. We’re going to have fresh, new talent — perhaps Kamala among them, that’s up to her — to go forward for the next election.”
Hear Pelosi’ full remarks regarding the outcome of the election below.