Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed on Thursday that the Democratic Party had “an open primary” and that Kamla Harris "won it" after the Democrats dropped President Joe Biden as their presidential nominee. 

When asked about her thoughts on an open primary, Pelosi claimed, "We had an open primary and [Harris] won it because nobody else got in the race because she’s politically astute,” Pelosi claimed, saying “it was a thought” for the Democrats to “show our talent, we have a great bench.” But she said it wasn’t necessary to highlight “all these great people” because Biden just “endorsed her.”

Pelosi lauded Biden as “the most consequential president of modern times,” adding, “He’s accomplished so much more. I mean, even Barack Obama in his eight years of service would admit that in the short period that Biden had the majority – which was two years of his four-year term.” Pelosi claimed Biden was not only great for legislative reasons but also for “that legacy of what we did.”

Pelosi said Biden was “highly respected and was to be our nominee” but decided to step out of the race. Biden endorsed Harris as president and Pelosi said he endorsed her because of her experience as the vice president.

“And so, yes, people could have jumped in. There were some people who were sort of preparing, but she just took off with it. And actually, it was a blessing, because there wasn’t that much time between then and the election. And it wasn't that we didn't have an open primary. It's just that nobody got in because she had a running start.” Biden and other reports have previously said that Pelosi pushed him out of the race in favor of Harris.