Nancy Pelosi, the highest ranking House Democrat, joined the chorus of Democrats calling for more primary debates on Friday.
Pelosi backed the idea in an interview with the Los Angeles Times published Friday, a nod of approval that could give more firepower to outsiders’ calls for more chances to stand side-by-side with Hillary Clinton.
“Hillary does well – I think they all do well on them – and we should have more debates,” said Pelosi, who has praised Clinton but not officially endorsed her.
“They thought 26 was too many, and I think it is, and you probably should have something in between,” Pelosi added, referring to the marathon debate schedule during Clinton’s first run in 2008. “But I don’t know that we’re going to have more debates.”
Some of Clinton’s Democratic rivals – most notably Martin O’Malley – have attacked Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, which organizes the events, for not hosting more than the six debates currently scheduled. In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Clinton declined to call on the DNC to host more events, though she said she would be “happy” to show up at more debates.
The DNC has said the number of debates will not be changed.
