Nancy Pelosi told USA Today she and Joe Biden have not spoken since reports that she urged him to leave the 2024 race. She denied telling him "you shouldn't run," saying her discussions focused on comparing poll data and public attitudes. Pelosi said she was saddened by the lack of contact but respected Biden's decision, and noted he issued a gracious statement when she announced her retirement.
Pelosi Says She and Biden Haven’t Spoken Since Reports He Was Urged To Quit, Denies Telling Him Not To Run
Former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden walk off the stage after a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on June 28, 2024.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told USA Today’s Susan Page that she and former President Joe Biden have not spoken since reports surfaced claiming she urged him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race. The remarks were made during an interview released on the podcast "The Excerpt."
Pelosi pushed back on the premise that she told Biden he "shouldn't run," saying her conversations with him focused on the need to review a wider range of polling and public-attitude data. She suggested that if Biden’s team had consulted more pollsters, the campaign might have reached a different conclusion.
"No, but I want to just recharacterize what you said. My conversations with the president were more about let's make sure we're understanding what the polls say, and there are certain attitudes that the public had, had they been taken into consideration. If they had sat down with more pollsters, it might have come to a place where we said, 'This is it, the president should go,' but they just decided that their polls were right and that was that. So I didn't go in there to say to the president, 'You shouldn't run.' I said, 'We've got to compare polls because we have different numbers.'"
Pelosi said she was saddened by the fact that they had not spoken, adding that she still respects Biden's decision. When asked whether "everything is OK" between them, she replied, "You'd have to ask him."
Pelosi first voiced public concern about Biden’s prospects after his widely criticized debate performance, appearing on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" in July 2024 and suggesting the president was weighing his options despite earlier statements that he would remain in the race. At the time, several outlets reported that Pelosi and other Democratic leaders were privately urging the campaign to reassess its strategy because of concerns about electability.
In the months after the election, some Democrats expressed disappointment over how events unfolded. Former First Lady Jill Biden told The Washington Post she was disappointed with the situation and said the episode weighed on her given a long friendship with Pelosi.
Pelosi also told Page that Biden issued a complimentary statement when she announced plans to retire from Congress at the end of her current term. On X, Biden praised Pelosi as one of the most effective speakers in modern history, noted he awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and wished Pelosi and her husband well.
This interview adds to ongoing questions within the Democratic Party about how internal conversations and polling informed decisions during the 2024 campaign cycle.
