Nancy Pelosi has finally revealed what role she played in pushing Joe Biden out of the presidential race, saying ‘I did what I had to do’.
The former House Speaker, 81, revealed last night that her concern ‘was not about the president’ but instead was ‘about his campaign’.
Pelosi, asked by CNN on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention if there was any ‘residual bad blood’ between her and Biden, said that ‘sometimes you have to take a punch for the children’.
She then doubled down, saying Biden ‘made the decision for the country’ and adding that ‘I have to do what I have to do’. She then pointed to the ‘exuberance’ and ‘excitement’ that has come in wake of Vice President Kamala Harris‘s candidacy.
The long-time Democrat leader admitted over a week ago that she pressured Biden, 81, to drop out of the White House race because she feared he was no longer making his own decisions.
Reports have suggested that Biden remains bitter at top Democrats – especially Pelosi – for pushing him out of the contest. But the President, in his own address Monday evening, said it’s ‘not true’ that he’s holding grudges.
Nancy Pelosi, asked by CNN on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention Monday night if there was any ‘residual bad blood’ between her and Joe Biden, finally revealed what role she played in pushing the President out of the 2024 race
Pelosi, pictured during Biden’s speech, said that ‘sometimes you have to take a punch for the children’. She then doubled down, saying Biden ‘made the decision for the country’ and adding that ‘I have to do what I have to do’
CNN host Jake Tapper, acknowledging that the decision to drop out had been ‘very difficult’ for Biden, questioned Pelosi about the alleged ‘residual bad blood or resentment’ between the pair.
‘Sometimes you have to take a punch for the children,’ she responded, prompting co-host Dana Bash to ask: ‘Who’s punching right now?’
Tapper directly referenced Pelosi’s under-the-radar feud with former top Biden adviser Anita Dunn who told the broadcaster earlier Monday that ‘nobody wants to have a fight with Nancy Pelosi at this time’.
‘I don’t know, I didn’t even hear this. I’m just hearing this,’ Pelosi replied before gesturing to Tapper and saying: ‘Maybe he’s throwing the punch, I don’t know.’
‘I would never,’ Tapper replied, before trying to double down his line of questioning about Dunn’s remarks.
‘I have to do what I have to do,’ Pelosi interjected. ‘He made the decision for the country. My concern was not about the president; it was about his campaign.’
She then noted ‘the exuberance’ and ‘the excitement that has come forth in our country’ since Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris’s candidacy.
Pelosi also pointed to the ‘exuberance’ and ‘excitement’ that has come in wake of Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy. Harris is pictured speaking at the DNC on Monday night
Delegates and supporters are pictured cheering for Kamala Harris as she takes the stage at the DNC at the United Center in Chicago on Monday night
Pelosi is seen clapping and cheering during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Pelosi alleged that a Democrat in Illinois ‘immediately got 1,100 volunteers into his campaign as soon as that announcement was made’.
Tapper, acknowledging that the ‘nobody was questioning’ that Democratic party is in a ‘much better position’ with Harris as its nominee, tried to push further.
But Pelosi interrupted him, asking: ‘So, why are we even talking about it?’ Tapper then joked that CNN ‘put in on my script’ and ‘they’re holding my cat hostage.’
For all Biden’s good grace, there was little doubt among delegates ahead of Monday night’s speech that he is still smarting over the manner of his exit, driven from the top of the ticket by allies from whom he had expected loyalty.
The one he reportedly blames the most – Pelosi – apparently hadn’t got the message.
‘#ThankYouJoe,’ she said on X, along with a picture of her holding up one of the heart banners.
The former House Speaker also looked less than convincing chanting ‘Thank you, Joe’ during the President’s speech.
Pelosi admitted over a week ago that she pressured Biden to drop out of the race.
Nancy Pelosi looked less than convincing chanting ‘Thank you, Joe’ during President Biden’s speech at the Democrat National Convention
The former House Speaker also took to X to thank the President and shared a picture of herself holding up a ‘We Love Joe’ banner
Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Monday
The long-time Democrat leader, in an interview with the New York Times on Friday, stated that she intervened after a July 8 letter purportedly from Biden to Congress in which he re-affirmed his commitment to remaining in the election contest.
‘I didn’t accept the letter as anything but a letter,’ she said. ‘It didn’t sound like Joe Biden to me. It really didn’t.’
In the letter, Biden stated that he was ‘firmly committed’ to remaining in the race against Donald Trump as he sought to head-off calls to step aside following his disastrous debate performance and increasingly dismal polling.
But her role in getting Biden to step down from the 2024 running has reportedly frustrated some of the president’s top allies.
‘Nobody wants to have a fight with Nancy Pelosi at this time because we’re a united party,’ Biden’s former adviser Dunn, who is now working at a pro-Kamala Harris super PAC, said on CNN.
But the ex-Speaker shot back on the first day of the DNC in Chicago, saying that she ‘just wanted to win.’
‘I have my relationship with the president, and I just wanted to win this election. So if they’re upset, I’m sorry for them. but the country is very happy,’ she explained. ‘I don’t know who they are, but you know that’s their problem. Not mine.’
Kamala Harris, smiling and apparently beaming with joy, takes the stage at the DNC on Monday
President Joe Biden kisses Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris after his remarks at the Democratic National Convention Monday night
From left: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden wave to the crowd after Biden’s speech during the Democratic National Convention on Monday night
The president admitted earlier this month that Pelosi’s concerns about other Democratic races contributed to his decision to exit the race.
‘A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,’ Biden said in his first interview since ending his reelection campaign.
‘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 [something] … and I thought it’d be a real distraction,’ he said in the interview with CBS News Sunday Morning host Robert Costa.
