Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened up about her role in the mutiny against President Biden and admitted she’s “never been that impressed with his political operation.”
“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,” Pelosi (D-Calif.) candidly told the New Yorker about her concerns about his 2024 prospects.
The speaker emerita did not elaborate on why she was unimpressed with Biden’s political machine.
Pelosi, 84, has been on a book tour, which has doubled as something of a cleanup expedition in recent days over her role in Biden’s withdrawal, which appears to have strained the pair’s decades-long relationship.
Throughout multiple interviews, Pelosi has been showering Biden with praise in public, hailing him as a “consequential president” worthy of recognition at the level of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
When asked about rumors that Biden, 81, was “frustrated” with her, she told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday, “He knows that I love him very much.”
Over the course of her career in Congress, which has spanned just under four decades, Pelosi developed a reputation for being a ruthless, calculating and slick political operative.
After Biden’s shocking debate performance against former President Donald Trump at the end of June triggered heart palpitations throughout the Democratic Party, Pelosi initially emerged as a defender.
But her tone soon shifted. Two days after Biden penned a letter insisting to Democrats in Congress that he was “firmly committed” to staying in the race, Pelosi appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” rumored to be one of the president’s favorite political shows.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said on the program. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
When she was pressed about how Biden had just committed to remaining in the race, Pelosi replied, “Whatever he decides, we go with.”
At one point, she pressed Biden about polling data indicating he couldn’t win the presidential election and when he disputed that, she had him put his longtime adviser Mike Donilon on the phone, CNN reported.
There were also reports of blunt conversations between Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as well as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Schumer urged Biden to drop out, ABC News reported.
“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. They said I was burning up the lines, I was talking to Chuck [Schumer]. I didn’t talk to Chuck at all,” Pelosi insisted.
She has repeatedly claimed she never made calls to foment the mutiny against Biden. She’s also refrained from detailing her private conversations with him at the time.
But while Pelosi denied calling people, she admitted that people called her.
“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,” Pelosi told the outlet.
Pelosi underscored that her chief objective was to ensure that “Donald Trump would never set foot in the White House again.” She also claims she was merely trying to get Biden to run a better campaign.
The Golden State Democrat admits she has not been in touch with Biden since everything went down.
“I pray so. I cry so,” she said when asked if their relationship could survive. “I lose sleep on it, yeah.”
Reflecting on Biden’s debate performance, Pelosi conceded that she was “startled” by it and had downplayed the challenge on the president’s hands before the verbal bout began.
“Earlier in the day, when I was with the members, they were, like, Oh, how’s it going to be? ‘Trump will be so awful,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry about it. The Joe Biden of the State of the Union is going to show up. It’s going to be great.’ In fact, I didn’t even want him to be in a debate,” she recounted.
Pelosi contended that Trump, 78, is “doggy doo-doo” and Biden was going to get “doggy doo-doo” on his shoe by debating him.
“I just didn’t want him to be seen with that guy. And then that happened, and I think everybody was stunned. It was stunning,” she reflected.
She is promoting her memoir, “The Art of Power,” which hit bookshelves Tuesday and detailed her time helping to craft consequential legislation.