Former President Barack Obama wasn’t happy when Rep. Nancy Pelosi suddenly endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris last year.
This previously unknown gossip and news was first reported in ABC News’ Jonathan Karl’s newest book, “Retribution,” as confirmed by the Daily Mail, which has obtained an advance copy of it.
According to Karl’s sources, Obama called Pelosi shortly after she endorsed Harris.
“The Obamas were not happy,” a Pelosi confidant told Karl, according to his book. “This person summed up Obama’s message to Pelosi as, essentially, ‘What the f*** did you just do?'”
Pelosi allegedly responded by telling Obama, “That train has left the station.”
BREAKING: Rep. Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president after she was accused of staging a coup against Biden.
According to Politico, Pelosi threatened Team Biden if he refused to drop out of the race.
“Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard pic.twitter.com/3w5q9X0uw7
— Uncut Version International (@uncutversion123) July 23, 2024
Pelosi’s abrupt endorsement of Harris came as a shock to Obama because the two had reportedly previously been in “regular communication” and “agreed [that] Harris should not simply be handed the nomination .”
“Therefore, Obama and Pelosi – arguably the two most influential figures in the Democratic Party – had privately agreed to abstain from making any endorsements,” Karl explained.
“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?” he added.
What remains unclear is Obama’s tone during the call.
A source close to Obama alleged to Karl that he wasn’t actually angry at Pelosi and that any beef between them was “good-natured ribbing.”
But the source close to Pelosi said otherwise, claiming Obama sounded “genuinely irritated” by her decision to endorse Harris.
A former senior advisor to former President Joe Biden told Karl that the supposed real reason for Obama’s anger was that he didn’t think Harris had the chops to defeat President Donald Trump.
“There’s only one black Jesus,” the adviser joked, referring to Obama, whom conservatives have often mocked as Democrats’ messiah.
FYI, Karl’s book is mostly about President Trump and his 2024 presidential election campaign:
“Donald Trump is already the most consequential president of my lifetime … the focus of his attention in almost everything he does is getting even.”@JonKarl discusses his new book, “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America.” https://t.co/2NjtrGQNZH pic.twitter.com/73E5MjXyGm
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 26, 2025
Pelosi’s husband was reportedly also disturbed by her last-minute endorsement.
“Kamala?” her husband allegedly asked her in confusion, according to Karl.
“Don’t start with me,” Pelosi allegedly replied.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this Tuesday, Karl offered further details — like the bombshell that Obama and Pelosi had a “pact” agreement to run a Democrat primary election after then-President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, as reported by Mediaite.
“So the two of them had been basically working to try to get, you know, Biden out of the race,” he said. “And they had been adamant that when he gets out, we need to have some kind of a process, whether it be a mini flash primary something, a meeting of delegates, something, something. And don’t just hand it over to Kamala Harris. And they had had a pact on this.”
“[Harris] gets out and everybody endorses her within hours. You know, [Josh] Shapiro, [Gretchen] Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, they’re all endorsing her within hours. Pelosi actually waits till the next day. But she sees that there’s nothing to hold the tide. So she puts out the endorsement, gets this phone call. I actually spoke to somebody who overheard the phone call. And what Obama says is basically: ‘Nancy, what was that all about?’ And clearly irritated,” he added.
He also rehashed what he’d written in his book about Obama’s reaction.
“Now, I’ve spoken to people close to President Obama who say he was just kind of giving her — joshing with her and giving her a hard time,” Karl noted. “I’ve spoken to another, you know, person who is very close to Pelosi who says, ‘No… he was angry.’ The clear message was, ‘Why did you do that?'”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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