Nancy Pelosi defends President Biden after debate, claims health professionals say Trump has 'dementia'

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended President Biden on Sunday during an interview on CNN after the presidential debate, and suggested former President Trump has "dementia."

CNN host Dana Bash asked Pelosi if there was any part of her that believed Biden should step aside.

"My people are very much Biden-Kamala Harris and this is an opportunity for Joe Biden to go out there and show he has the stamina," she responded. "And by the way, while the press and for some reason they don‘t - there are health care professionals who think that Trump has dementia, that his connection, his thoughts do not go together. Not only that he just lies, he doesn‘t even know the truth, so if we‘re just talking about mental acuity, let’s be fair about it." 

Pelosi said lawmakers see Biden "up close," and insisted he was well aware of the issues facing Americans.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday and defended President Biden following his debate performance. (Screenshot/CNN)

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"We know how attuned he is to the issues, we know how informed he is. I debate with him about the issues, not debate, but discuss it with him. He‘s right there. So, in any case, it was a bad night. Let’s not sugarcoat that. It was a bad night. It was a great presidency. And that’s what the American people have to choose," Pelosi continued. 

After Pelosi praised Biden and listed several of his accomplishments, Bash told the Democratic lawmaker she made "the argument for Joe Biden‘s reelection in a way that he did not."

Bash asked if there was a mechanism that would work if Biden wanted to step aside.

"There’s nothing as well, as just as Joe Biden getting up and taking the ball over the finish line. Something else could be chaotic," Pelosi responded.

President Joe Biden looks down as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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"I don‘t say that to say that could never happen because it might, I don’t mean now. I mean, in history it could. But understand this, this is really important for people to understand. Joe Biden has won the nomination. He has won the nomination," Pelosi said. 

Bash pushed back and said he didn't officially have the nomination yet.

"The roll-call has been happening around the country, because of the timing of the election. It's a very different year," Pelosi countered.

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Tom Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times and a friend to Biden, called on the former president to drop out, saying the debate made him "weep."

"If he insists on running, and he loses to Trump, Biden and his family — and his staff and party members who enabled him — will not be able to show their faces," he wrote.