In the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris—where he managed to enhance his 2020 margins across nearly all key demographics—the Democratic Party is undergoing a period of introspection regarding their missteps. A significant number of party members are attributing the defeat to President Joe Biden.
Democratic strategists, commentators, and legislators have openly criticized Biden for his delayed withdrawal from the race until late July, despite his growing unpopularity in polls and the increasing sentiment among Americans that he was too old for another term.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed to The New York Times on Thursday that had Biden exited the race earlier and refrained from immediately endorsing Harris—which she noted ‘made it almost impossible to have a primary’—there ‘might have been other candidates in the race.’ She added, ‘The expectation was that, if the president were to step aside, there would be an open primary.’