Pelosi rejects claims that Biden was ‘pushed’, focuses on Democrats beating Trump

Washington: Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi has not ruled out the chance that Donald Trump may not accept the election result if Kamala Harris wins, urging Democrats to deliver a victory so resounding it can’t be disputed.

And as the campaign hits its final stretch, the California stalwart rejected suggestions that Joe Biden was “pushed” to withdraw, saying he “made a selfless decision as president of the United States” to “pass the torch to another generation, which is greatly appreciated”.

Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, speaks during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Centre in Chicago. Credit: Bloomberg

Pelosi’s comments came as Trump began sowing doubt about November’s election, increasingly claiming he could only lose if Democrats “cheat”, and insisting that Biden was the victim of an internal “coup”.

Trump also said he would only adhere to the election outcome if he believed it was “a fair and legal and good election”.

Asked by this masthead if she believed the Republican candidate would accept a Harris victory – and whether she had any concerns about the potential for political violence given what happened at the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021 – Pelosi said Trump was “projecting his own bad intentions” by suggesting Democrats would try to cheat.

“We have never engaged in not accepting an election, or not honouring the terms of an election, so when he talks about that, he’s talking about his own bad values – or lack of values,” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.Credit: AP

“We know how bad he is. That’s why he must be defeated.”

Pelosi’s comments come 72 days out from an election that has been completely upended by Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race.

The Godmother pin. Nancy Pelosi was not amused.

Since then, Democrats have rallied around Harris, whose campaign says it raised $US82 million ($120 million) during the party’s national convention in Chicago last week.

In a memo released on Sunday (Monday AEST), Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said a third of those donations came from first-time contributors, two-thirds of whom were women and one-fifth young people.

The highly influential Pelosi is the person Democrats credit most for Biden’s withdrawal; at last week’s convention in Chicago, fans sported a badge with her face superimposed on an image of a poster for the movie trilogy, The Godfather. (Pelosi wasn’t “amused”.)

After Biden’s disastrous debate, Pelosi spoke to the president personally to voice the concerns of fellow Democrats that he might not only lose the election but could also rob the party of its hopes of winning the House, which is needed to pass legislation and govern efficiently.

Actor Mindy Kaling, who hosted day three of the convention, acknowledged the part Pelosi played in the pressure campaign Biden faced by introducing her on stage as “the mother of dragons”.

But speaking on the sidelines of the convention, the California stalwart rejected suggestions Biden was “pushed,” saying it was his decision alone not to seek a second term.

Nancy Pelosi and other delegates listening to President Joe Biden on day one of the DNC last week.Credit: AP

“The decision has been made, and we are on our way in making another decision: that we will win, and that’s what we are focusing on,” Pelosi said.

“I don’t want to go into credit or blame for how this happened. It was no one’s decision but the president of the United States, and we applaud him for it; we salute him for it.”

Asked if she had spoken to Biden since he withdrew from the race, she replied: “I have a long friendship with him that I think will sustain [beyond] the politics of this election. But I also think that winning this election is essential to supporting his legacy – which is a great one, and the most consequential in modern times.”

In a bid to counter Harris’ momentum, Trump is ramping up his own campaign with a busier schedule in battleground states and smaller-scale events designed to keep him focused on key policy topics to draw a contrast with Harris, such as immigration and the economy.

The former president, who has struggled to recalibrate since Biden dropped out of the race, got a boost on Friday (Saturday AEST) when former Democrat-turned-independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr dropped his campaign and endorsed Trump in the hope of getting a cabinet position in a second Trump presidency.

“I think he’s going to have a huge influence on this campaign. Actually much bigger than you’ll see in the polls,” Trump told a rally in Arizona where he and Kennedy – the scion of one of America’s biggest political dynasties – shared the stage. “All who supported Bobby’s campaign: I simply ask you to help us build this coalition.”

Both Harris and Trump will return to the campaign trail this week, with Harris and her running mate Tim Walz embarking on a bus tour of Georgia – the state that helped propel Biden to victory in 2020 – while Trump heads to Detroit, Michigan, to address a National Guard conference, followed by a trip to Wisconsin on Thursday and a rally in Pennsylvania on Friday.

All three states that Trump is hitting this week are part of the so-called “blue wall” that he won from Hillary Clinton in 2016 but narrowly lost to Biden four years ago; all three will determine who wins on November 5.

Both Democrats and Republicans expect Harris to get an uptick in the polls following the exuberant Democratic National Convention where she delivered a rousing speech, casting herself as someone who could “chart a new path forward” and end the division and negativity of the past.

But the highly scripted Harris has not yet done a press conference or one-on-one interview since taking over from Biden, and a major test will be the presidential debate against Trump on September 10.

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