Pelosi praised Harris for handling the debate effectively and criticized Donald Trump’s performance. She said, “I have high standards for how those answers are handled and was very, very proud of her. She did very well. He was a mess. He lost – and that’s why he doesn’t want to debate again.”

Harris became the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek reelection. Biden had earned about 14 million votes during the Democratic primary elections, a fact he repeatedly used to defend his original decision to remain in the race.