House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday that she is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee with support that she said is “official, personal and political.”
“Officially, I have seen Kamala Harris’s strength and courage as a champion for working families, notably fighting for a woman’s right to choose,” she said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Personally, I have known Kamala Harris for decades as rooted in strong values, faith and a commitment to public service. Politically, make no mistake: Kamala Harris as a woman in politics is brilliantly astute — and I have full confidence that she will lead us to victory in November.”
Pelosi’s endorsement, which was hotly anticipated, comes amid a rush of Democratic support for Harris after President Joe Biden left the race and endorsed Harris on Sunday.
By the time Pelosi weighed in Monday, Harris had already received more than one-third of the pledged delegates needed to secure the nomination, according to a tally Monday by The Associated Press.
Pelosi’s endorsement also followed Democrats boasting their single biggest day for online donations in years, with the party raking in more than $50 million on Sunday.
Former President Barack Obama is another who did not immediately publicly weigh in on who should replace Biden after he left the race. One source, described as familiar with Obama’s thinking, told The New York Times that Obama wants to help “unite the party once we have a nominee” and doesn’t want to interfere sooner.