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President Joe Biden reportedly still feels resentment toward former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and, to a lesser extent, former President Barack Obama for their roles in pushing him off the Democratic ticket. As Politico reported Wednesday, “Biden has told his closest aides and associates that he is coming to terms with his decision to bow out of the presidential race last month, but still harbors some frustration toward the members of his own party he believes pushed him out, according to three people familiar with Biden’s thinking who are not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.”
In all likelihood, Biden authorized the unnamed sources to speak to the news outlet but did not permit them to use their names on the record.
While Biden hasn’t said this publicly, it’s clear there are still hard feelings. In his first interview since announcing he would not seek a second term, which aired on “CBS Sunday Morning” last weekend, he only hinted at this reality.
Biden cited Pelosi specifically as a reason for stepping out of the race against former President Donald Trump. He told CBS News correspondent Robert Costa, “Look, polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race. It would have been down to the wire, but what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in their races.” Biden added, “And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic. You’d be interviewing me about, ‘why did Nancy Pelosi say …,’ ‘why did so …’ and — and I thought it’d be a real distraction.”
Pelosi initially set the stage for Biden’s replacement during a July 10 interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where she implied her support for his candidacy was wavering after his poor debate performance against Trump on June 27.
MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire, who co-authored the Politico piece, asked her, “Does [Biden] have your support to be the head of the Democratic ticket?” Pelosi responded, “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. He’s beloved. He is respected, and people want him to make that decision.”
Lemire noted that Biden had been firm in his intentions not to drop out. Pelosi reiterated, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with.”
Politico reported last month, in another piece co-authored by Lemire, that “The comment ricocheted around the Capitol, a signal to the party she long led that the president’s candidacy and looming nomination were not yet a settled matter.” Meanwhile, Pelosi was reportedly working behind the scenes to push Biden out, according to Politico.
One Democratic source, familiar with private conversations, told the news outlet, “Nancy made clear [to Biden’s people] that they could do this the easy way or the hard way. She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way.”
Politico indicated that “the hard way” could have involved Pelosi publicly stating that Trump would defeat Biden, an assertion that would have been deeply humiliating for a sitting president, according to two unnamed sources.
Others have suggested that the threat of invoking the 25th Amendment to immediately remove Biden from office might have been the leverage used to make him decide not to seek a second term.
Biden’s primary frustration with Obama, according to Politico, is that Obama didn’t directly communicate any concerns about Biden’s candidacy. Although Obama showed support for Biden in a post on X after the June debate, saying that bad nights happen, he subsequently went quiet, allowing momentum to build for Biden’s removal.
Last week, Pelosi told CNN that she and Biden haven’t spoken since he withdrew from the race. CNN host Dana Bash asked, “Is everything OK with your relationship?” Pelosi answered, “You’d have to ask him, but I hope so.”
CNN reported that a source with direct knowledge described Biden as “seething” at Pelosi.
Next week, Democrats are expected to give Biden a grand send-off at their convention.
