Pelosi hints Democrats could have won the presidency if Biden had stepped down sooner

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hinted that if President Joe Biden had dropped out of the race earlier, Democrats could have won the race.

“Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview with The New York Times. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.”

Earlier this year, Biden ended his re-election bid for president and endorsed Harris. Pelosi said Biden's rapid endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris meant there was no time for a primary.

President-elect Donald Trump earlier this week defeated Harris, winning the popular vote and the electoral college.

“And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time,” Pelosi said. “If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.”

She said she previously had supported a second term for Biden.