Pelosi is widely reported to have led the Democrats’ push to oust Biden, who ended up leaving the race at the end of July after weeks of pressure following a poor debate performance against Donald Trump. As Biden ended his campaign, he quickly endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to take his place.

Pelosi told the New York Times that had Biden left sooner, the party could have had an open primary. Joe Biden’s slowness in exiting the 2024 presidential election cost the Democrats dearly, the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said,

The scale of Trump's win was a shock to the system for Democrats, many of whom have suggested that Biden running for reelection before making the decision to drop out of the race