Anita Dunn, a former adviser to President Biden, criticized “certain leaders” for Democrats losing the House in 2022, comments that come after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she has “never been that impressed” with Biden’s “political operation.”
In an interview with Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast, Dunn, a longtime Biden aide, was questioned about her new role with Democratic super PAC Future Forward and her work to elect Vice President Harris. She stressed the need for Democrats to win in their House and Senate races, too.
Dunn said moving her support from Biden to Harris is “not as difficult as you would think.”
“Everyone says he’s still very angry at Pelosi, [former President] Obama, [Senate Majority leader Chuck] Schumer, to a lesser extent,” Politico’s Ryan Lizza said, referring to reported efforts from top Democrats to pressure Biden to end his reelection campaign, which he eventually did last month.
Dunn said in response that Biden is “1,000 percent” in for Harris.
“The task in front of us is to win this election and to not let Donald Trump become president again and to win the House of Representatives, which, had certain leaders in 2022 done a slightly better job, maybe we would control today, but we don’t,” she said.
“That is the job ahead of us,” Dunn added. “And it’s critical because, as the president has said, this country is at an inflection point.”
Pelosi, who reportedly worked behind the scenes to secure Biden’s withdrawal from the Democratic ticket, said earlier this week that she hasn’t spoken to the president since he made his announcement.
CNN previously reported Biden was “seething” with anger at the former Speaker for not standing by him amid calls for him to drop out of the race.
“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi told The New Yorker’s David Remnick on a Thursday episode of “The New Yorker Radio Hour.”
“They won the White House. Bravo,” she added. “But my concern was: This ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The president has to make the decision for that to happen.”