CHICAGO — Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended herself against speculation that President Biden is frustrated over her role in the mutiny against him.
Declining to confirm whether or not she has spoken with Biden, 81, since he dropped out last month, Pelosi (D-Calif.), 81, contended that she did what was necessary.
“Sometimes you have to take a punch for the children,” she told CNN Monday. “I did what I had to do.”
“My concern was not about the president, it was about his campaign,” she added, before implying that Vice President Kamala Harris ushered in “exuberance” and “excitement.”
She then grew uncomfortable with the line of questioning, blurting out, “Why are we even talking about it?”
Monday night was intended to be Biden’s time to shine and feature a “passing the baton” from him to Harris. Biden is then set to jet off to California for a reported vacation.
Pelosi and Biden have a decadeslong history together in politics. But after his fumbling debate performance against former President Donald Trump in late June, friction appeared to emerge in their relationship.
Initially, Pelosi defended Biden. Then about two days after Biden penned a letter to Democrats telling them that he was “firmly committed” to staying in the race, she made a startling appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” rumored to be one of the president’s favorite shows.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said on the program. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Those remarks drew attention as she publicly suggested his decision on staying in the race was an open question, despite Biden saying it was not.
“I never called one person. I kept true to my word. Any conversation I had, it was just going to be with him. I never made one call. They said I was burning up the lines, I was talking to Chuck [Schumer]. I didn’t talk to Chuck at all,” Pelosi previously told The New Yorker.
She later admitted that others called her.
Pelosi also previously told The New Yorker that she’s “never been that impressed with his political operation,” without elaborating.
Seemingly seeking to patch things up with Biden, Pelosi has done a multitude of interviews with the stated intent of promoting her new book in which she’s buttered him up with praise, suggesting that he deserved to be on Mount Rushmore and that she wasn’t concerned about his mental acuity.
Biden hasn’t talked much about Pelosi in the public eye, though he did name-drop her when explaining that the mutiny against him motivated him to drop out.
“A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic — you’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say [something],” he told “CBS News Sunday Morning” earlier this month.
Earlier on CNN, Biden’s longtime former adviser Anita Dunn, who has since departed the White House briefly opined on the Pelosi situation.
“Nobody wants to have a fight with Nancy Pelosi at this time because we’re a united party and we’re going to be moving forward,” she told CNN, glossing over the rumored feud.
