Pelosi says she didn’t think Biden would win and reveals chilled relationship with president

Nancy Pelosi is finally making clear her role in the pressure campaign which led to Joe Biden making the painful, personal decision to step down as the Democratic Party’s 2024 candidate.

The former House speaker sat down with The New Yorker for an interview which published on Thursday; in it, she outlined a bleak outlook for the Biden campaign following the president’s concerning appearance at June’s presidential debate in Atlanta.

Pelosi told David Remnick that she didn’t see a path to victory for the incumbent president after he appeared lost onstage at points and was unable to complete his thoughts, trailing off before declaring, “...anyway” or coming to an incoherent stop.

“He felt great. And I had confidence in him,” Pelosi said of Biden before the debate. “And then that happened, and I think everybody was stunned. It was stunning.”

She went on to outline how she saw the race after the debate, and in doing so offered a frank characterization of the Biden campaign apparatus: “I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation.”

“They won the White House. Bravo,” the former speaker quipped. “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.”

For weeks, Pelosi has sought to downplay her involvement in the behind-the-scenes conversations which finally led to Biden’s announcement that he would step down on July 21. She did so this past weekend, in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, insisting that she did not make a single call concerning her worries about the president.

But it was clear in her remarks to Remnick that she was providing herself with careful cover: “I never called one person, but people were