Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi avoided offering her personal opinion of whether President Joe Biden should step down ahead of November’s election during an appearance on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday. But in doing so, she also avoided putting her full-throated support behind his reelection bid.
When asked point blank if Biden has her support to be the head of the Democratic ticket, Pelosi replied, “It’s up to the president to decide if he’s going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.” The former Speaker added that Biden is “beloved” and “respected” and reiterated that “people want him to make that decision.”
Of course, Biden has made clear that he’s already made his decision, issuing a statement earlier this week that he’s not dropping out of the race. He’s running. MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire followed up by pointing this out to Pelosi, asking again if she wants him to run, to which the former Speaker replied, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do, and that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with.”
Earlier in the interview, “Morning Joe” cohost Mika Brzezinski confronted Pelosi with the growing calls from Democrats for Biden to drop out of the race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance and subpar ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos.
“That’s one version of the story,” Pelosi replied. “What I do want to say is that yesterday I was honored to be present at the president’s speech at NATO, he was absolutely spectacular. He was received over and over again with ovations for what he had to say and the force with which he said it.”
The president has faced calls from both lawmakers and prominent donors to drop out of the race following the debate, and to make way for a more viable candidate to defeat Donald Trump. Despite this, Biden remains steadfast that he’s running, sending a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday.
“I have heard the concerns that people have — their good faith fears and worries about what is at stake in this election. I am not blind to them,” Biden wrote. “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”
