Pelosi: 'I’ve never been that impressed' with Biden's political operation

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a podcast interview released Thursday that she has “never been that impressed” with President Biden’s “political operation.”

“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi said of Biden in an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick on a Thursday episode of “The New Yorker Radio Hour.”

Pelosi’s comments follow The Hill’s reporting that, out of public sight, the California Democrat pushed the president to leave the 2024 presidential race, which he eventually did.

The former House Speaker’s fellow Californian, Vice President Harris, is now at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Pelosi has denied pressing Biden to leave the 2024 presidential race, but in the interview with Remnick, she said she did not believe Biden had a good chance of defeating former President Trump.

“So, my concern was, ‘This ain’t happening,’” Pelosi said in the interview, while talking about a moment last month on MSNBC where she said it was the president’s decision “to decide if he’s going to run.”

“And we have to make a decision for … this to happen, and the president has to make the decision for that to happen,” Pelosi continued. “So, people were … I never called one person. I kept true to my word. Any conversation I had with it, was just going to be with him.”

Pelosi said earlier this week that she has not talked with the president following his exit from the presidential race in July. She told CNN anchor Dana Bash that she wanted to talk to Biden.

“We’re all busy,” she said.

Following Biden stepping out of the presidential race, Harris has garnered large amounts of enthusiasm and fundraising. She announced her own vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), on Tuesday. Pelosi has called Walz, a former House member, “wonderful.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House and the Harris campaign.