House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she did not want Sen. Bernie Sanders to drop his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, despite calls from other party officials for him to exit the race.
“No, I don’t think Bernie Sanders should get out of the race,” Pelosi told reporters Thursday.
Pelosi described herself as “a grassroots person” and said she understood “the enthusiasm of supporters for the candidates, and they want to see it play out for the ideas, the causes that the candidates advance, for the opportunity for people to show their support.”
Sanders was declared the official winner of the California primary on Thursday.
Some top party lawmakers want Sanders to drop out, among them one of Pelosi’s top lieutenants, Majority Whip James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, who called for an end to the primaries and debates now that former Vice President Joe Biden has secured a strong delegate lead.
But Pelosi said she was not in favor of ending the contest.
“I congratulate both of the candidates as they go into the debate on Sunday, wish them both well, and I’m very pleased that was we’re getting a chance now in a narrower field, to be able to come close to having a standard-bearer for the party,” Pelosi said. “But, either one of them, whoever is the one who emerges, the other one is the standard party-bearer for their point of view. In our party, that is very important.”
