During a tense interview in which she sought answers about how a crisis of confidence led to a massive shakeup in the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential ticket, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) candidly admitted that she has “never been that impressed” with President Joe Biden‘s “political operation.”
The swipe came as The New Yorker editor David Remnick asked Pelosi about her much-discussed appearance last month on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in which Pelosi insisted she would support whatever decision Biden made about his political future — even though Biden was already saying at the time he would not leave the race.
Remnick noted that people around Pelosi said her “Morning Joe” appearance gave them “space” to call on Biden to end his 2024 bid after a fumbling debate performance. Although more than 14 million people voted for Biden during the primaries, the president eventually dropped out amid a growing pressure campaign led by his own allies. His vice president, Kamala Harris, has since become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
“When I pressed Pelosi to talk in greater detail about her language on ‘Morning Joe,’ she looked at me silently, unblinking,” Remnick wrote in a story published on Thursday. “Finally, as the silence expanded past the boundary of awkward, I said, ‘You’re looking at me and waiting for this moment to pass.'”
“Yeah, but I’m trying to think of why you’re even asking it, because, you know, I’m not going to answer it the way that you want,” Pelosi said. “I didn’t plan to do that on [‘Morning Joe.’] In fact, if I did, I probably would’ve worn a different suit or something, because I didn’t look too professional.”
Remnick wrote that he told Pelosi, “It was like you felt his pain.” In the moments that followed, “Pelosi dropped her calculated reserve,” according to Remnick’s write-up of his conversation.
“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi said. “They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was: this ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The president has to make the decision for that to happen. People were calling. I never called one person. I kept true to my word. Any conversation I had, it was just going to be with him. I never made one call.”
The response appeared to add more context to Pelosi’s comments in a recent interview for CBS. Journalist Lesley Stahl told Pelosi it had been said that Biden was “furious” with her, ostensibly for not having the president’s back. Pelosi denied she was “a leader of any pressure party,” and insisted she “did not call one person.” Also during the CBS interview that aired last weekend, Pelosi suggested Biden’s face should be added to Mount Rushmore.
A number of Democrats had been publicly urging Biden to end his campaign by the time he stepped aside. Pelosi was not one of them, though she did tell Biden in private that polls showed he could not defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 contest and warned the president he could hurt other Democrats in down-ticket races if he did not bow out, according to CNN. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) similarly did not publicly break with Biden but reportedly used a meeting to discourage the president from staying in the race.
“They said I was burning up the lines, I was talking to Chuck [Schumer]. I didn’t talk to Chuck at all,” Pelosi told Remnick during their conversation. “I never called one person, but people were calling me saying that there was a challenge there. So there had to be a change in the leadership of the campaign, or what would come next.”
Remnick wrote that Pelosi acknowledged she had not been in contact with Biden since the Sunday on which he announced his exit from the 2024 contest via a letter posted to X. Asked whether her relationship with Biden would survive, Pelosi did not appear certain. “I hope so,” she said. “I pray so. I cry so.” Pelosi claimed she had lost sleep on it. She said her goal was simply to make sure Trump “would never set foot in the White House again.”
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