Barack Obama lashed out at Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) after she anointed Kamala Harris as the Democrats' nominee in the summer of 2024, according to a new book on last year's tumultuous presidential election.
Obama felt that Pelosi was blowing up his delicate plans to manage Joe Biden's chaotic exit from the race, which was orchestrated by Obama and other party elites who lacked confidence in Biden's ability to beat President Trump.
It has long been suspected that Obama lacked confidence in Harris as well, and he was not happy when Pelosi followed Biden's rapid endorsement with her own.
"The Obamas were not happy,” a Pelosi confidant told Jonathan Karl, author of Retribution, according to an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail.
“This person summed up Obama’s message to Pelosi as, essentially, ‘What the f–k did you just do?’”
An Obama source disputed that characterization and said Obama gave Pelosi a "good-natured ribbing," but a Pelosi source said he sounded “genuinely irritated."
Whatever his tone may have been, there's no question that Obama saw Harris' nomination as a disaster - and, whatever you think of Obama, he was right about that.
According to the book, Obama assumed that he and Pelosi were in quiet agreement that a competitive process should play out to find a new nominee.
It wasn't just Obama who had that impression. Harris was also told by Pelosi that the Speaker wanted a miniature primary instead of a coronation, according to Harris' memoir 107 Days.
Five days before he reluctantly endorsed Harris, Obama expressed "confidence" that the party's leaders would select an "outstanding nominee."
But within 24 hours of Biden dropping out, Pelosi shared her endorsement expressing "full confidence" in the bumbling vice president. When Obama called Pelosi to complain, she explained that the horse had left the barn with Biden's endorsement.
“That train has left the station,” Pelosi told Obama during the call.
Some have speculated that Biden's quick endorsement of Harris was his way of getting back at Obama, who had played a shadowy role in forcing Biden to end his campaign.
Feelings of resentment have continued to fester, with Biden's son Hunter telling Karl that he was angry at Obama for leading Joe off stage at a re-election fundraiser.
“I almost jumped up on the stage and said, ‘Don’t ever f‑‑‑ing do that to the president of the United States again — ever,” Hunter added.
