Biden Accuses Pelosi of Working to Force Him Out of 2024 Race

An excerpt published Friday by The Atlantic presents Pelosi, in Biden’s account, as one of the ringleaders who met him privately at the White House and urged him to reassess his candidacy after his debate against Donald Trump.

“Publicly she was still saying it was my decision to make. But privately she was working furiously behind the scenes to get elected officials and Biden delegates to defect,” he writes.

Pelosi Pressed Him in Private

Biden says the former House speaker kept telling the public that the choice was his alone, while, out of view, she tried to peel away elected officials and his own delegates.

The Atlantic places that White House meeting in a wider push by party leaders after what it calls the worst presidential-debate performance in American history. The debate against Trump was on June 27, 2024; Biden ended his campaign on July 21.

Pelosi has not issued a public response to the passage. CNN has reported that she has repeatedly declined to discuss the status of their relationship.

Leaders Offered Only One Choice

Biden attributes his withdrawal less to his own performance than to a media narrative and to party leaders who, he writes, had already made up their minds.

“They would say that whether I stayed in the race was my decision to make. And they would respect whatever decision I made. In reality, the only decision they would respect would be my decision to exit the race.”

He writes that he had won the Democratic nomination “decisively” and still believed he was “the best person to lead the world.”

Schumer Visits Him in Delaware

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Biden writes, came to his beach house in Delaware to make the same case. Biden says he took the revolt of old allies personally and told Schumer he had “a lot of gumption” coming to his home to tell him to get out.

He ultimately concluded that remaining the nominee would divide the party. After sleeping on a draft withdrawal statement, he announced the decision the next day.

The memoir lists the allies he then called, with the precise times. Two names are absent: he did not call Pelosi, and he does not list former President Barack Obama.

Memoir Is Due Next Week

Little, Brown and Company is scheduled to publish the nearly 500-page book on Nov. 17. The Atlantic excerpt follows earlier passages on Trump’s 2021 Oval Office letter and Biden’s comments on his cancer diagnosis.

It also includes Biden’s account of Trump telling him they would be good friends if not for politics, and would spend their time golfing together.

CNN, which purchased a copy of the book, reported that Biden later described an Italian lunch with Pelosi meant to repair the friendship, and wrote that they did not discuss the 2024 episode.