Pelosi: ‘I’ve never been that impressed’ with Biden’s political operation

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a podcast interview released Thursday that she has “never been that impressed” with President Biden’s “political operation.”

“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi said of Biden in an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick on a Thursday episode of “The New Yorker Radio Hour.”

Pelosi made the remarks after Remnick mentioned an appearance the ex-Speaker made on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” notable for its lack of confidence in Biden staying in the race. It was a major turning point at the time, as Biden sought to argue to his party that they should stick with him for another campaign.

“They won the White House. Bravo,” Pelosi told Remnick. “But my concern was: this ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The President has to make the decision for that to happen.”

Pelosi’s comments follow The Hill’s reporting that, out of public sight, the California Democrat pushed the president to leave the 2024 presidential race, which he eventually did.

But Pelosi said she did not make calls to fellow Democrats to push Biden out of the race.

“People were calling. I never called one person. I kept true to my word. Any conversation I had, it was just going to be with him. I never made one call,” Pelosi said in the interview. “They said I was burning up the lines, I was talking to [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck [Schumer]. I didn’t talk to Chuck at all.”

“I never called one person, but people were calling me saying that there was a challenge there. So there had to be a change in the leadership of the campaign, or what would come next,” she told Remnick.

The important thing, Pelosi said, was to make sure that former President Trump, the GOP’s nominee this fall, did not return to the White House.

The former House Speaker’s fellow Californian, Vice President Harris, is now at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Pelosi said earlier this week that she has not talked with the president following his exit from the presidential race in July. She told CNN anchor Dana Bash that she wanted to talk to Biden.

“We’re all busy,” she said.

Following Biden stepping out of the presidential race, Harris has garnered large amounts of enthusiasm and fundraising. She announced her own vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), on Tuesday. Pelosi has called Walz, a former House member, “wonderful.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Harris campaign.

This story was updated at 12:11 p.m.