It’s no secret that fake Republican Ana Navarro, co-host of ABC’s The View, counted herself as a close friend of President Biden; that’s in addition to her being a big supporter of Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). So it was striking during Monday’s show when Navarro seemed to pick sides and decided to press Pelosi on her role in forcing Biden out of the race behind the scenes, and about how Harris was quickly installed as the nominee.
“There is a perception among some that there’s a lot of hurt feelings because you played an outsized role in him stepping down which was a very selfless, but a very hard thing for him to do. I’ve heard that Jill Biden and her team, that there’s people close to the Biden team that are upset at you,” Navarro prefaced, seemingly airing out the Democratic Party’s dirty laundry.
Asking: “Have you spoken to him, and how do you respond to that?”
Perhaps caught off guard by actually being called out, Pelosi appeared to say the quiet out loud, admitting that getting rid of Biden was a strategic decision make for political reasons:
My point was we need a better campaign. As I said, a decision to win. I didn’t see us on a path to victory. So, it wasn’t about him not running. It’s just, if this is the case, we have to run in a different way.
The President made his decision, patriotic, selfless, the most consequential president of modern times. This has been a great president of the United States. Thank you for asking. The decision that he made was one that has, well, you see the result of it. It’s going to preserve — when we win, it’s going to preserve his legacy!
In a follow up, Navarro confronted Pelosi about how nominating Harris was not an “open process”:
Initially though, you wanted an open process. You don’t want — you didn’t endorse Kamala. You wanted an open process, despite knowing her very well from San Francisco. Do you think now when you look back on it, that it was a mistake?
Pelosi laughably insisted “It was an open progress [sic]” and that “Anybody could have gotten in” and made a run at the nomination, which was not true. “She got in, and she won, and a president of the United States had endorsed her who was very respected. So, that meant a lot, but people don’t understand,” she declared.
Further, Pelosi suggested that “Other people could have gotten in. [Harris] just locked up” because of how “Politically astute” she supposedly was.
Showing tremendous cognitive dissonance about how the process was supposedly “open,” co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin each touted how Harris “got the delegates” and “worked the phones” (respectively).
As the other faux conservative on the panel, Farah Griffin’s question wasn’t about anything impactful or substantive; like say the video of Pelosi on admitting she was responsible for the Capitol’s security on January 6.
Instead, Farah Griffin teed up Pelosi to make a get-out-the-vote pitch:
So madam speaker, there was obviously huge momentum for Kamala Harris going into the DNC and coming out of it, but the polls are in a dead heat. Statistically, this is the closest presidential race in a generation. How optimistic are you that she can win, and what do you think is going to happen in the House? Do you think Democrats can win back control?
“We had made a decision to win, and so we’ll make every decision in favor of winning,” Pelosi proclaimed. “The fact is though; Hakeem Jeffries must be the speaker of the House, he must have that gavel! He must have that gavel on January 6!”
The transcript is below. Click “expand” to read:
ABC’s The View
September 9, 2024
11:31:12 a.m. Eastern(…)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: So madam speaker, there was obviously huge momentum for Kamala Harris going into the DNC and coming out of it, but the polls are in a dead heat. Statistically, this is the closest presidential race in a generation. How optimistic are you that she can win, and what do you think is going to happen in the House? Do you think Democrats can win back control?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Well, thank you for that question. I didn’t know if we could talk politics here, but –
[Laughter]
ANA NAVARRO: Have you watched our show?
PELOSI: I meant that I couldn’t.
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Probably not. She’s been busy.
PELOSI: We had made a decision to win, and so we’ll make every decision in favor of winning.
[Applause]
And that means we have to mobilize and own the ground to get out the vote. So, all of you are enthusiastic about Kamala and Tim Walz, you must make calls, walk precincts and the rest of that.
Secondly, mobilization. The message has to be bold and progressive, but not menacing. It has to be unifying. We have to use this election to unify America as Sara has said.
[Applause]
And third is the money and that comes in. The three “Ms.” Mobilization, message, money.
But, we also have to remind you all: No wasted time. Eight weeks from tomorrow is the day. No wasted time, no underutilized resources, and no regrets; the day after the election, we could have done this much more [gestures a small amount].
As far as the House is concerned – and I heard what you said earlier Alyssa about winning and then voting down the line Republican, and that’s —
FARAH GRIFFIN: If they’re good, non-election denying Republicans.
PELOSI: There are a few who are. The fact is though; Hakeem Jeffries must be the speaker of the House, he must have that gavel! He must have that gavel on January 6!
(…)
11:34:59 a.m. Eastern
NAVARRO: You have a very long relationship, friendship with president Biden. You all have worked together for decades.
PELOSI: Decades.
NAVARRO: You’ve been personal friends. He awarded you the Medal of Freedom earlier this year.
There is a perception among some that there’s a lot of hurt feelings because you played an outsized role in him stepping down which was a very selfless, but a very hard thing for him to do. I’ve heard that Jill Biden and her team, that there’s people close to the Biden team that are upset at you. Have you spoken to him, and how do you respond to that?
PELOSI: No, but I — my point was we need a better campaign. As I said, a decision to win. I didn’t see us on a path to victory. So, it wasn’t about him not running. It’s just, if this is the case, we have to run in a different way.
The President made his decision, patriotic, selfless, the most consequential president of modern times. This has been a great president of the United States.
[Applause]
Thank you for asking. The decision that he made was one that has, well, you see the result of it. It’s going to preserve — when we win, it’s going to preserve his legacy!
(…)
11:37:29 a.m. Eastern
NAVARRO: Initially though, you wanted an open process. You don’t want — you didn’t endorse Kamala. You wanted an open process, despite knowing her very well from San Francisco. Do you think now when you look back on it, that it was a mistake?
PELOSI: It was an open progress [sic]. Anybody could have gotten in. She got in, and she won, and a president of the United States had endorsed her who was very respected. So, that meant a lot, but people don’t understand. Other people could have gotten in. She just locked up.
SUNNY HOSTIN: She got the delegates.
PELOSI: Politically astute. As I said to you before.
FARAH GRIFFIN: She worked the phones.
PELOSI: So, I was one of the earlier endorsers of any of the leaders, right? Within 24 hours.
NAVARRO: And yesterday you and a bunch of Italian-Americans did the paisans for Kamala.
(…)