Democrats are rushing to blame United States President Joe Biden for his Vice President Kamala Harris’ massive defeat against Republican leader Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential elections. While talking to the New York Times, veteran Democrat and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted Biden for delaying his withdrawal from the race. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi was quoted as saying by the paper.
“The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, there would be an open primary,” she added.’
Pelosi added Harris may have done well in the primary and had been stronger going forward. “And as I say, Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in [a primary] and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen. We live with what happened,” former House speaker told the outlet.
“And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.”
Pelosi was one of the top Democrats to have reportedly advised Biden to pull out of the race to the White House after his disastrous debate performance against the GOP nominee in June this year.
Earlier, Longtime Democratic donor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman had also criticised Biden for withdrawing “too late.”
“Why did Joe Biden hold on for as long as he did? He should not have concealed his (health) and dropped out a lot sooner,” news agency Reuters quoted him as saying. “The party lied to the American people about the cognitive health and fitness of the president, and then didn’t hold a primary to replace him,” he added.
Some Democrats are believed to have also raised questions on Biden’s advisors for never saying “no” to the US president.
A former campaign aide meanwhile said Harris’ close association with Biden’s policies may also have discouraged potential voters from supporting the Democratic candidate. Harris’ remarks on ABC News that “she wouldn’t have done anything differently than Biden” further raised concerns that her administration may not be that different from the era of a very unpopular incumbent president.
(With inputs from agencies)