President Biden shed some light on why he decided to drop out of the presidential race during a recent interview with CBS News, hinting that his fellow Democrats weren’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat for his campaign. According to Biden, a number of Democrats in the House and Senate were concerned that his continued presence in the race would spell trouble for them down the ballot. “A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” Biden admitted to CBS’s Bob Costa. He added that staying in the race would have led to constant questions about why key Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi, were suggesting he should step aside, creating what he called a “real distraction.”
Biden officially announced his exit from the race at the end of July, promptly throwing his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Reports suggest that the pressure to step down was mounting behind closed doors, with figures like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer reportedly urging him to bow out in the wake of his lackluster debate performance against Donald Trump. Pelosi recently confessed that she and Biden haven’t exchanged words since his decision to step down.
Interestingly, Pelosi continues to deny that she explicitly told Biden to drop out. Instead, she claims that her focus was on advocating for a better campaign strategy. “We did not have a campaign that was on the path to victory. Members knew that in their districts,” Pelosi told reporters, effectively admitting that the writing was on the wall.
Biden’s own reflections during the interview painted a picture of a man who initially saw himself as a “transition president” but quickly realized that the fast-moving political landscape wasn’t in his favor. Despite his determination to stick it out, Pelosi’s comments on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” one of Biden’s go-to shows, reignited the conversation about his future. She mentioned that it was ultimately up to Biden to decide whether to continue, but her remarks seemed to open the floodgates for more intense discussions about whether he should be replaced on the ticket.
Pelosi later downplayed her remarks, claiming it wasn’t her intention to corner Biden into a decision. However, she did acknowledge that her comments may have sparked renewed debate about Biden’s place in the race. Reflecting on the situation, she noted, “He may think that my statement unleashed something—I don’t know, because I haven’t spoken to him since.”
