Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) doubled down on her support for President Biden following his debate performance last week.
Pelosi defended Biden on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, emphasizing that the president is “attuned” to the issues when she works with him up close. She shot down suggestions that Biden could be replaced on the Democratic ticket amid concerns about his ability to serve a second term after the debate.
“When I debate with him about legislation — and not debate, but discuss it with him, he’s right there. So, in any case, it was a bad night. Let’s not sugarcoat that. It was a bad night. It was a great presidency,” she said.
“And that’s what the American people have to choose, a night where somebody’s going to just misrepresent the facts completely, and then you’re on your guard, the other person has to negate that, or, again, it was a bad night,” she added.
The Biden campaign and his allies have been on the defense since Thursday’s debate, during which Biden appeared to stumble over his words at times. Biden came out strong the following day at a rally in North Carolina, where he attempted to quell voters’ concerns.
Pelosi said that Biden has “won the nomination” to be the Democrat Party’s candidate when asked if there was a “mechanism” in place to replace him on the ballot. Pelosi said that “something else could be chaotic.”
“And so, you would have to undo the nomination to do something else. That would not be a reason to do it or not do it,” she said. “The question is, Joe Biden’s decision to go forward is a decision that we will all embrace because of the record he has and the performance that will come with it.”