Asked by hosts of ABC's “The View” on Wednesday about his relationship with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Biden gave a hesitant response and, in a clearly revisionist statement, insisted that Ms. Pelosi had not forced him to stop campaigning for a second term.
“Did you feel coerced? And what is your relationship with Speaker Pelosi now?” asked co-host Alyssa Farah, who served as White House communications director under then-President Donald Trump and has since become a critic of her former boss.
“My relationship is good. I…” the 81-year-old lame-duck leader began.
“I've never fully bought the assertion that there's somehow overwhelming resistance to me running again, and I don't feel that way,” Biden ultimately said.
“And the polls, they said Biden was polling differently. The fact is, in my polls, I was consistently within range of beating this guy.”
The president added: “Some people wanted me to step down to give them a chance to move forward. I understand that. That's human nature. But that's not why I stepped down.”
“I resigned because I started thinking about it. It's hard to think about. I know you're only 30, but it's hard to think about and it's hard to say how old you are. … It's like, 'Oh my god, that can't be wrong.'”
Contrary to what Biden may remember, he was forced to give up the Democratic nomination on July 21 as a result of an intense pressure campaign by Democratic leadership after his chaotic performance with Trump in the CNN debate on June 27.
For weeks, Biden stubbornly rejected calls for him to resign, eventually succumbing to a humiliating and escalating rebellion by some of his former allies.
Biden argued Wednesday that he still could have won, saying he “was confident I could beat Trump. He's a loser.”
The outgoing president further slammed his rival Trump, 78, later in the interview, saying the Republican presidential nominee “doesn't have much redeeming value in society” and that “he doesn't really believe in democracy.”
Biden also said that after he retires on Jan. 20, “there's a lot I want to do to continue what I've started, including the Biden Institute at the University of Pennsylvania (foreign policy) and the Biden Institute in Delaware (domestic policy), and I think I can get that done.”
Representative Pelosi (D-Calif.), who led the effort to remove Biden from the Democratic nomination, pointed to polls showing Democrats facing major losses in lower-tier districts and reportedly privately pleaded with Biden to withdraw. The former House speaker reportedly warned that Biden could have an easy or hard exit.
For weeks after his disastrous debate defeat, Biden angrily insisted he had no plans to retire.
“I'm the Democratic nominee,” Biden said at a campaign rally on July 5. “It seems like some people don't care who you voted for. Guess what? They're trying to throw me out of the race. Let me be very clear: I'm continuing to run.”
“I'm so frustrated that the elites in our party know so much more than I do,” Biden exclaimed in an MSNBC interview on July 8. “If there are people out there who don't think I should run, please go ahead and challenge me at the convention.”
Biden changed his mind as the list of Democrats calling for retirement grew longer, seemingly guided by Pelosi's approval.
“I did what I had to do,” Pelosi said last month when asked about her tactics.
