The world was shocked when Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race back in July. He did so weeks after his disastrous presidential debate against Donald Trump.
Biden had defiantly tried to remain in the race as long as he could. However, the pressure from the Democrat establishment to drop out became too great, and he ultimately felt that he had no choice but to comply.
It has since been revealed that Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was the “key figure” in Biden’s ouster. New York Times contributing opinion writer Jonathan Alter explores this in his new book “American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial—and My Own,” which comes out on Tuesday.
Vanity Fair published an excerpt from this book under the title: how Pelosi “ripped off the band-aid for Democrats” to convince Biden to step out of the race. The excerpt reveals the one thing about Biden’s ouster that has left Pelosi furious to this day.
From Fox News:
“The key figure in getting Biden to change his mind was Pelosi, who drew on their forty-year friendship. At first, she thought Biden could survive what he described as his ‘bad night.’ But Pelosi is an institutionalist; she loves the House, and her nightmare of not regaining control of that chamber (when Democrats were so close to winning it back) seemed to be coming true,” Alter wrote.He continued, “With Republican control of the presidency, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, who would check Trump’s authoritarian impulses? After Biden under-performed with Stephanopoulos, Pelosi expected that Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill would stage an intervention.”
“But the men were MIA,” an insider reportedly told Alter. “She wasn’t happy that the only bloody fingerprints on the knife were hers.”
Immediately after Biden’s horrific debate performance, Pelosi began having frequent talks with Biden, both in person and over the phone. She used these talks to gently pressure Biden to drop out of the race, according to Alter. At first, Biden defiantly insisted on staying in the race. This resulted in Pelosi upping her game by taking a more public approach. In various interviews, she coldly stated “It’s up to the president to decide if he’s going to run.”
“A fly on the wall would have seen a master class in subtle politics, as the former speaker—a velvet-gloved boss for our times—maneuvered with great sensitivity to ease the President of the United States out of power,” Alter wrote. “‘She’ll cut your head off, and you’ll never even know,’ one of her friends told me.”
Biden Hasn’t Spoken To Pelosi Since
Eventually, Pelosi managed to recruit other top Democrats to join her efforts in pressuring Biden to drop out. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer and complied with their wishes.
While Pelosi got what she wanted in the end, this all appears to have destroyed her decades-long friendship with Biden. Indeed, he reportedly blames her for his ouster more than anyone else. Last week, when asked if she’s spoken with Biden since he dropped out of the race, Pelosi admitted, “Not since then, no. But I’m prayerful about it.”
Sure you are, Nancy.
It seems that Pelosi is furious that she’s taken the fall for something the entire Democrat establishment wanted in the wake of Biden bombing the debate. However, that’s quite frankly what she gets for interfering in this presidential race to pressure Biden to drop out.
At this point, Pelosi should just own up to what she did and suffer the consequences of her actions. This all just goes to show that Pelosi remains one of the most crooked politicians in Washington.
