Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has pointed to President Biden’s late withdrawal from the presidential race as a critical misstep in a candid interview with The New York Times on Thursday.

Pelosi shared her perspective with host Lulu Garcia-Navarro on The Times’ “The Interview” podcast, stating, “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race.”

According to Pelosi, “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.” She acknowledged playing a significant role in encouraging Biden to exit the race following a poorly received debate performance.

Wow — Nancy Pelosi puts Biden on blast, telling NYT: "Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race."

"The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary." pic.twitter.com/2An6xY0PAC

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) November 8, 2024

However, within an hour of Biden announcing his decision to withdraw on July 21, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. By the next day, Harris had effectively secured the nomination, gaining commitments from a majority of Democratic National Committee (DNC) delegates.

Pelosi commented on the situation, saying, “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,” she said. “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 has consistently maintained that the process was open after Harris secured the nomination, emphasizing that other potential candidates had the opportunity to enter the race.

Nancy Pelosi called out by Bill Maher for making Biden step down:
Bill Maher: "Sometimes you're discouraging people to run."
Pelosi: "People make their own decisions."
Maher: "Absolutely they do."
Pelosi: "From the bottom of my heart: Thank you so much for what you didn't do."… pic.twitter.com/eK0IWlZXky

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) August 31, 2024

“Many of us who were concerned about the election wanted to have an open process. It was an open process; anyone could have gotten in,” Pelosi said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal in August.

“[Harris] had the endorsement of the president, and she, politically astutely, took advantage of it and shut down — not shut down, but won the nomination. But anybody else could have gotten in,” Pelosi added.

She reiterated her stance on The View in September, saying, “I was one of the earlier endorsers of any of the leaders, right? Within 24 hours.”

Later that month, when pressed on her position, Pelosi expressed satisfaction with how events unfolded, noting, “No, I didn’t change my mind. We had an open primary, and [Kamala Harris] won it. Nobody else got in the race,” she said. “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 was not that much time between then and the election, and it sort of saved time.”