House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) confirmed that she spoke with President Biden and fielded worried calls from Democrats, many of whom were disgruntled about their 2024 election odds, before he quit the race.
Pelosi, one of the most influential Democrats in Congress, in a Monday interview on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” denied that she “was burning up the airways” to push Biden out — right before divulging that she spoke to him after “people called me.”
“It was always about him,” the former House speaker claimed. “And why I said I didn’t make calls, because people said I was burning up the airways. No, I wasn’t.”
“The only person that I spoke to about this was the president. Other people called me about what their views were about it,” she added. “… I rarely even returned a call, much less initiated one.”
“I was asking for a campaign that would win,” Pelosi recounted. “And I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”
In a Sunday interview on CBS News, Pelosi boasted that she could honestly say to the president: “I never called anybody.”
“No, I wasn’t the leader of any pressure [campaign],” she said. “Let me say things that I didn’t do: I didn’t call one person. I did not call one person. I could always say to him, ‘I never called anybody.’”
Biden withdrew on July 21 from the presidential race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to succeed him, following public outrage from deep-pocketed Democratic donors and members of Congress at his floundering candidacy against former President Donald Trump.
During both interview appearances, Pelosi gushed about how “consequential” the Biden presidency was — despite having been the highest-ranking congressional Democrat to publicly express a loss of confidence in the 81-year-old president after his debate flop against Trump on June 27.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she mused on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” two days after Biden had explicitly reiterated to lawmakers that he would be the Democratic nominee in early July.
“We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short,” Pelosi went on. “I’m not the head of the caucus anymore, but he’s beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision. Not me.”
Other Democrats seen as allies to the ex-House speaker — including California Rep. Adam Schiff — also broke their silence just days before Biden dropped out and called on him to “pass the torch” to the next generation.
Privately, however, Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) played “good cop, bad cop” to kick Biden off the Democratic ticket, with the California Democrat threatening that the pair “could do this the easy way or the hard way,”
While Schumer traveled to the president’s Rehoboth Beach, Del., vacation home to convey sympathy, Pelosi unloaded on Biden about his flagging polling numbers in a private phone call, according to reports by CNN and Politico.
Eventually, more than two dozen Democrats in Congress came forward to call on Biden to abandon his re-election effort, following his scattered and at times incoherent public appearances at the debate, in subsequent media interviews and at his “big boy” press conference during the NATO summit in DC.
In the face of the reports about her involvement, Pelosi has downplayed her role and tried to change the conversation to discuss Biden’s legacy, suggesting it will be on a par with US presidents currently represented on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
“I want him, his legacy, to be recognized, preserved,” she said on “Good Morning America.”
Pelosi made the appearance to promote her new memoir, “The Art of Power,” which will be released on Tuesday.
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Conclusion:
Despite the controversy surrounding the 2024 presidential race and President Biden’s decision to withdraw, the influence and power dynamics within the Democratic party have been brought to light through the actions of Nancy Pelosi and other prominent figures. The behind-the-scenes maneuvering and public statements have provided a glimpse into the inner workings of political decision-making at the highest levels. As we await the next chapter in American politics, it’s clear that the road to the White House is paved with obstacles and surprises. Stay tuned for more updates on the evolving political landscape from DeFi Daily News!
