Pelosi denies making phone calls to organize Biden ouster

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is downplaying reports she led the pressure campaign to push President Joe Biden to step down as the 2024 Democratic nominee.

“No, I wasn’t the leader of any pressure [campaign],” Pelosi told CBS in a clip of an interview that aired on Saturday. “Let me say things that I didn’t do: I didn’t call one person. I did not call one person. I could always say to him, ‘I never called anybody.’”

In the snippet, Pelosi also responded to reports Biden was “furious” with her regarding her role in the pressure campaign and not publicly supporting him, with Democrats, including close allies to her, such as Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), instead encouraging him to stand aside.

“He knows that I love him very much,” she said, declining to share other details of her discussions with Biden.

Despite Pelosi’s denials, ones her aides have made before, many Democrats interpreted her comments on MSNBC after Biden’s debate with former President Donald Trump as providing a permission structure for them to express concerns about Biden’s age, mental acuity, and electoral prospects.

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told the network shortly after Biden said he had no intention of dropping his reelection bid. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. The, I think, overwhelming support of the caucus, it’s not for me to say. I’m not the head of the caucus anymore, but he’s beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision. Not me.”

“He has made the decision,” MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire said. “He has said firmly this week he is going to run. Do you want him to run?”

“I want him to do whatever he decides to do, and that’s the way it is,” she replied. “Whatever he decides, we go with.”

Pelosi spoke with Biden at least twice amid the pressure campaign, reportedly telling him during one call that he could lose the House for Democrats. In response, Biden became defensive, with Pelosi asking Biden adviser Mike Donilon to present her with positive data for the president.

Although Pelosi may not have made any calls related to Biden, she reportedly was on the receiving end of several, including from former President Barack Obama and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.