Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Arturo Holmes
Topics: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, US News, Politics
Callum Jones
Topics: Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, US News, Politics
Barack Obama was allegedly unimpressed that Nancy Pelosi endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race so quickly after Joe Biden dropped out.
Amid worries over his health, former president Biden dropped out of the race against Donald Trump last year and immediately backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris to run for office.
Biden said in a statement at the time: "Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Pelosi, a former House of Representatives speaker and prominent Democrat figure, was also quick to endorse Harris, saying she had 'full confidence' she could defeat Trump.
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While Obama did eventually endorse Harris for the presidential bid, it was widely reported at the time that the former president wanted a fully-fledged process to choose Biden's successor.
ABC News’ Jonathan Karl claimed in his new book Retribution how the 'Obamas were not happy' that Pelosi had endorsed Harris so quickly, with a confidant to the former House leader summing up 'Obama’s message to Pelosi as, essentially, ‘What the f–k did you just do?'.
Karl penned in the book that Obama and Pelosi allegedly agreed 'Harris should not simply be handed the nomination unchallenged', with the journalist adding: "Therefore, Obama and Pelosi — arguably the two most influential figures in the Democratic Party — had privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements."
While the pair may have allegedly disagreed in this instance, a source close to Obama said the subsequent discussion Obama and Pelosi had on the phone was a 'good-natured ribbing', rather than an argument that may come across, Karl explained.
The reporter added in his latest book release: "The former president wanted to know what had happened. Why had Pelosi issued a statement endorsing Harris so soon? Hadn’t he and Pelosi agreed days earlier that party leaders anointing the vice president as Biden’s replacement would be a mistake?"
As big-name Democrats like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly endorsed Harris, Karl noted that Pelosi 'had no choice' but to come out publicly and back the then-vice president.
"No other candidates had stepped forward — Kamala Harris was it. The only thing Pelosi could do was try to help her win the election," the journalist added in the book in an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail.
UNILAD has contacts reps for Obama and Pelosi for comment.