Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was prepared to significantly increase her push against President Joe Biden’s nomination this week if he did not exit the race, according to Politico.
Senior Biden officials were preparing for Pelosi to ramp up her behind-scenes push against Biden this week before he dropped out, according to the outlet. These aides feared Pelosi would publicly call for Biden to drop out or even release confidential Democratic polling showing Biden’s bleak re-election odds to the public, the outlet reported.
Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were three of the leading Democrats who helped push Biden over the edge, Politico noted. She was making it clear to the President that he was finished and that his exit from the race could happen “the easy way or the hard way,” a Democrat familiar with private discussions told the outlet. (RELATED: Donald Trump Responds After Joe Biden Drops Out Of 2024 Presidential Race)
President Joe Biden’s endorsement, and the enormous war chest and campaign infrastructure VP Kamala Harris inherits from him, makes any challenge to her nomination daunting.
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Reports made it clear that Pelosi was privately making moves to oust Biden following his disastrous debate performance and the dismal polling numbers that followed. The former Speaker of the House never went public with these calls but was telling Democrats behind closed doors to do what was necessary to win reelection, even if that meant asking Biden to leave the presidential race, according to Politico’s Playbook.
Pelosi’s public statements reportedly provided a “subtle green light” for Democratic caucus members to call for Biden to step aside. Pelosi had privately revealed concern for Biden’s campaign and did not “hide her disdain” for the political situation, the outlet reported.
Pelosi told the president polling indicated that he would lose the election to Donald Trump and further warned that Democrats down the ballot could lose their races if he remained in the race, sources told CNN.
Pelosi also made public statements suggesting that a decision about Biden’s future had not yet been made even though the campaign adamantly claimed until the last minute that he was staying in the race.
“He got the message,” a House Democrat told Politico. He then reportedly referred to the Senate Majority Leader, the House Minority Leader and the former speaker. “It was from Chuck, Hakeem, Pelosi.”
