Pelosi made the comments earlier this week during an interview for a “Principals Live” event hosted by Semafor’s Kadia Goba.

“You had reportedly said that you wanted sort of an open primary if Joe Biden stepped down. Did you change your mind because you saw all the excitement around Kamala Harris?” Goba asked.

“No, I didn’t change my mind,” Pelosi replied. “We had an open primary and she won it. Nobody else got in the race because she was politically astute and that was the thought.”

Goba attempted to comment after Pelosi said Harris won the primary, appearing to say “Well..” before Pelosi continued. The audience then applauded Pelosi’s comment and Goba never continued with what she was trying to say. 

“Let’s show our talent,” Pelosi added. “We have a great bench, all these great people in the country, and the president endorsed her, and that’s a big deal because Joe Biden is the most consequential president of modern times.”

Pelosi later repeated the claim that there indeed was an open primary, but no other candidate entered, which is why Harris became the nominee.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t have an open president,” Pelosi said. “It’s just that nobody got in because she had a running start.”

President Joe Biden won the Democratic Party presidential primary, receiving 87.09% of the vote with 14,465,519 votes. After a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump, Biden dropped out of the race after intense pressure from Democrat politicians, donors, and celebrities such as George Clooney, who wrote an essay for the New York Times declaring that the Democrats needed a new nominee for president. Biden canceled his reelection bid on July 21 and endorsed Harris. 

During a virtual roll call ballot organized by the Democratic National Committee in August, Harris officially became the Democratic nominee without receiving any votes during a primary election.