Amid the talks of Biden being forced off the ticket, it was believed that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) played a significant role in having Biden drop out.
Based on Pelosi's comments, pundits now seem to think that Pelosi is the one calling the shots in the party, not Biden.
Talking Points…
- Biden forced to drop out
- Media reacts to Pelosi's comments on Biden
- Analysis
Only week away from the Democrat convention, Joe Biden was trailing Donald Trump in every key battleground state, including the Blue Wall states of PA, MI, and WI. Democrats knew this election was over, so the pressure campaign started to have Biden removed from the ticket. However, Biden was uncooperative, defiantly telling the party that he would stay in the race.
This left Democrats with few options, and it is believed that Pelosi was among those who threatened Biden with the 25th Amendment if he would not step down. She was publicly supporting Biden, but privately, it was reported that she told him they could do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way would be for Biden to withdraw, endorse Harris, and then be permitted to remain in office. Fight, and then Dems would remove him from office using the 25th.
As we all know, several days after that report surfaced, Biden announced on social media that he was stepping down and endorsed Harris to replace him on the ticket. Since then, Biden has been holed up in the White House or Delaware, and Harris, after an initial press conference, has also shut out the media.
Pelosi and Biden have been allies for decades, but this attack against Biden has apparently created some issues between them. The speculation about this grew when Pelosi was recently asked when she last talked to Biden. Pelosi then revealed that she and Joe had not spoken since he dropped out of the race. Pelosi was then asked if her relationship with Biden was okay, and she responded, "You'd have to ask him."
Meghan Hays, a DNC convention consultant and former White House communications aide, offered up her opinion on the situation, stating:
"I don't know what the conversations were between her and the president during that time, but it seems that all of the reporting has been true, it appears that there is some bad blood there.
"She's also selling a book and I think she's also trying to say that she is very much in power of the Democratic Party. And that statement, I think, proves and goes forth with that, by saying that, it's very much showing that she is in charge here."
CNN's Elliot Williams added:
"It's hard to imagine that someone who's that disciplined a politician doesn't know exactly what she's winking and nodding at there, and dropping the suggestion that they're not speaking.
"Because there were many other ways to answer the question in that look, he's the president of the United States, he's a busy man. I haven't had a chance to speak to him yet, but we will. But she didn't say that."
Bryan Lanza, a former director of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, was far more direct, stating:
"I mean, she knocked him out of the race. I mean, 14 million people voted for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris made 1,800 phone calls and she's the nominee for the Democratic Party. It clearly worked."
You are not going to hear me agree with CNN very often, but they got this one right. This was Pelosi flexing in public, more or less saying that Biden really doesn't serve a purpose any longer, so she is not even worried if they talk at this point. Pelosi was worried about losing the election, so she disregarded the primary election, threatened Biden, and made sure it was Harris on the ticket. Make no mistake about it: regardless of who is in the White House, until Pelosi leaves office, she is the one with the most power in the party.
