Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, appeared to defend her role in Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. However, she acknowledged that she hasn’t spoken to either Biden, the former president, or his wife, Jill Biden.
Last July, Biden made history by dropping out of the presidential race after weeks of defections from Democratic lawmakers who urged him to withdraw following a disastrous debate performance against then-President Donald Trump. Pelosi was perceived as a significant driving force behind the Democratic pressure campaign to compel the president to exit the race. Since then, the relationship between the Bidens and Pelosi has reportedly deteriorated.
On Thursday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell posed a question to Pelosi regarding Biden’s insistence, even in the final days of his presidency, that he could have potentially defeated Trump if he hadn’t been pressured to step down.
“Well, all I can say is that we secured a seat in the House. We didn’t lose any seats,” Pelosi argued. “You know, people were saying, ‘Oh, the Democrats lost!’ No, we didn’t. I believe it would have been quite different if President Biden had been the top candidate.”
Mitchell then mentioned how Jill Biden expressed her disappointment in Pelosi’s actions in an interview with the Washington Post. In late January, Jill Biden told the Post that Pelosi’s actions had been “on my mind a lot lately,” noting, “We’ve been friends for 50 years. It was disappointing.”
Mitchell asked Pelosi, “Is there any way to reconcile this? Have you spoken to her?”
“Well, I certainly hope so,” Pelosi replied. “No, I haven’t spoken to Jill Biden, but the fact is that we’re all on a mission for the American people, for the American people, and for America’s working families.”
Pelosi then appeared to suggest that politics can be akin to maintaining a marriage solely for the sake of one’s children.
“My entire passion for being in politics lies in the children. So, what are we doing for them?” the Speaker Emerita asked. “I believe it would have been crucial for the children to not have Donald Trump as the President of the United States, and I would take every necessary step to ensure that didn’t happen. Unfortunately, it did. Now, we must confront the reality of it.”
Pelosi expressed optimism about the prospects for the Democrats as the party prepares for the midterms in 2026.
“In approximately 6 or 7 months, we will witness a significant transformation,” she predicted. “By the time we commence our campaigns this fall for next fall, the picture of the Democrats compared to Donald Trump will be vastly different.”
