Pelosi Says Harris Would Have Been Biden’s VP Even If ‘She Were in a Competition That Was All Men’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is trying to tamp down rumors that Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was chosen to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate simply because he narrowed his search to female candidates.

“Everybody in that field was great, any one of them would have been a great president,” Pelosi said during a press conference on Thursday.

She continued, “Even if she were in a competition that was all men, she would have emerged because she is really the best person to be the vice president because of the confidence that 👤Joe Biden has in her.”

“You have to be able to be president. You have to cause no harm in the campaign. And you have to have the confidence of the nominee for governance. And she would exceed any demographic in that regard,” Pelosi added.

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Pelosi’s comments come days after Biden announced he had chosen Harris to be his vice presidential pick, as IJR reported.

If elected, Harris would make history as the first woman of color to serve as vice president.

Pelosi has previously hailed Harris as the “the best possible person” for the job. In an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday, Pelosi said, “Let’s recognize her not only as the first woman of color to be vice president but the best possible person he could have chosen to proceed into this election and, of course, to win and serve the American people.”

During the primary, Biden announced that he would choose a female to be his running mate, as IJR reported. And in the subsequent months, he has faced pressure to pick a Black woman.