Barack Obama wasn’t exactly thrilled when Nancy Pelosi rushed to back Kamala Harris — and he didn’t keep his feelings to himself. According to a new book, the former president picked up the phone and let the former House speaker know just how unhappy he was.
Calling Kamala Harris “brilliantly astute,” Pelosi threw her full support behind the former California senator — insisting Harris could beat Trump — in a stunning endorsement made just hours after Joe Biden bowed out of the 2024 race.
Obama — who had wanted “a process” to decide Trump’s Democratic challenger — picked up the phone soon after Pelosi’s endorsement to vent his frustration, believing they’d been on the same page, according to ABC News’ Jonathan Karl in his new book Retribution, out Tuesday.
“The Obamas were not happy,” one Pelosi confidant admitted to Jonathan Karl — a remark that, according to an excerpt from Retribution obtained by the Daily Mail, captured the quiet tension simmering behind the scenes.
“This person summed up Obama’s message to Pelosi as, essentially, ‘What the f*k did you just do?’”
ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl pulls back the curtain on Obama’s reaction to Pelosi’s Kamala Harris endorsement in his upcoming book, Retribution. Getty Images
Multiple reports indicate that Obama favored an open convention where delegates could decide the nominee — a stark contrast to the rush to rally behind Harris after Biden’s sudden departure.
Behind closed doors, Obama was said to have serious doubts about Harris — questioning both her competence and her chances of beating Trump in November.
“That train has left the station,” Pelosi told Obama, according to Karl — a remark that seemed to underscore Biden’s rapid move to throw his support behind Harris after suspending his campaign.
Karl wrote that Obama and Pelosi both “agreed Harris should not simply be handed the nomination unchallenged.”
“Therefore, Obama and Pelosi — arguably the two most influential figures in the Democratic Party — had privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements,” the journalist claimed.
Obama and Pelosi had been in “regular communication” before Biden’s July 21, 2024, exit — which is why he was blindsided when she quickly threw her support behind Harris.
Harris received Obama’s endorsement five days after Biden dropped out — but Pelosi backed her in less than 24 hours following the former president’s withdrawal. Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
Pelosi, it’s reported, concurred with Obama that an open primary was necessary once Biden withdrew from the race. AP
Karl reports that a source close to Obama characterized his conversation with Pelosi as “good-natured ribbing,” not the tense showdown some might have expected.
“The former president wanted to know what had happened. Why had Pelosi issued a statement endorsing Harris so soon? Hadn’t he and Pelosi agreed days earlier that party leaders anointing the vice president as Biden’s replacement would be a mistake?” Karl writes.
That said, a Pelosi confidant noted that Obama came across as “genuinely irritated” on the call.
One Biden aide reportedly thought that by waiting five days after the then-81-year-old president withdrew to endorse Harris, Obama signaled he didn’t believe the former vice president could pull off a win.
“There’s only one Black Jesus,” a top Biden aide reportedly told Karl, underscoring the intensity of the moment.
Pelosi’s husband, much like Obama, was reportedly surprised by her unexpected move.
“Kamala?” Paul Pelosi asked, according to Karl, his surprise evident.
“Don’t start with me,” Pelosi shot back, her tone unmistakably sharp.
According to Karl in Retribution, with high-profile Democrats like the Clintons and potential rivals such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and California Gov. Gavin Newsom rushing to back Harris, Pelosi reportedly “had no choice.”
“No other candidates had stepped forward — Kamala Harris was it. The only thing Pelosi could do was try to help her win the election,” he wrote.
Requests for comment to Pelosi’s office went unanswered.
