WASHINGTON (AP) — Nancy Pelosi’s influence is everywhere in the Democratic Party reorganization that has reshaped the 2024 presidential election and the race for the White House in a few short, painful weeks.
It was Pelosi who publicly encouraged President Joe Biden to make a decision on his re-election campaign, even though he had already maintained that he had no plans to step aside. After he dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris as the candidate, it was Pelosi who was a big fan of her future running mate, Tim Walz.
For the House Speaker Emeritus, the fuss is less about Biden, a friend of 40 years, and more about Republican Donald Trump, the former president she describes as “Bozo,” “a snake oil salesman,” “what’s his name” and “the creature from the Black Lagoon.”
“How can I put this in the nicest way: My life’s goal was to never have another human being enter the White House,” Pelosi said, banging the table with every word.
Pelosi spoke to reporters and columnists Wednesday about her new book, “The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House,” in which she calls for an end to political violence in the U.S. But it’s this final unwritten chapter of Pelosi’s career that shows the soft power she still wields that could change the course of history.
Pelosi repeatedly refused to detail her conversations with Biden during this tumultuous period, or if the conversations even took place. The two have not spoken since he withdrew from the race.
“At some point I will make peace with my own piece, my own role in this,” she said.
“I think part of our goals here was to preserve his legacy, a fantastic legacy, which would be completely shattered if Bozo were elected to the White House.”
However, some details have emerged, as Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries all had private conversations with Biden as he made his historic decision to end his campaign.
Pelosi said she did not mean to embarrass Biden when she appeared on his favorite morning news program in early July after his dismal debate with Trump and suggested he make a decision on his re-election bid.
Biden had just written a letter to Congress insisting he was pushing ahead after some rank-and-file Democrats publicly called for him to drop out of the race. It wasn’t well-received, she said.
It’s not just about the White House, it’s about control of Congress in November. Pelosi had heard from concerned lawmakers, and she herself saw no “path to victory” for Biden.
“I really asked for a better campaign,” she said.
But she admitted that his options going forward were “open, in my opinion.”
Pelosi had told Biden early on that she didn’t want him on the debate stage with Trump. She felt it was beneath him to stand next to Trump, who refused to debate his own Republican colleagues during his primary campaign for the GOP nomination. And she knew Trump would use the venue to “tell all his lies” without scrutiny.
“I thought it would be like dog poop, that you would get it on your shoe and you would all smell like him,” she said.
But she said Biden was very confident and assured her he could handle Trump on stage. “I know you can handle it,” she told him. “But why?”
Pelosi was watching the debate from her Washington apartment. When Biden took the stage, it was unsettling, she said.
“I was shocked.”
Pelosi said she had “never seen Biden like this.”
Pelosi laid out her longstanding advice for debating: Clear your mind. Don’t get bogged down in details. Rest. Be yourself.
Whatever the question, “you respond as you wish. You own it.”
It was clear that none of this was happening with Biden.
“He is the president of the United States, a person who for decades has understood a vision of a country based on values, knowledge, problems and therefore judgment about everything, with more empathy in his heart than anyone else,” she said. “Who should prepare him?”
Pelosi said publicly at the time that she wanted to know if this was an incident with Biden, or a condition?
She made it clear that she wanted a more aggressive campaign, “so people could see his strength.”
It’s important to simply repeat past performance as Biden did, she said, to show voters you know how to accomplish goals. But elections are really about what you do next.
“Elections are about the future,” she said. “Finish the job.”
None of this rematch with Trump would have been possible if the Senate had voted to convict him rather than acquit him of the charge of inciting the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, because that would have made him ineligible for the White House. Pelosi blames the Republican leadership in the Senate for that outcome, calling it shameful.
As crowds turn out in droves this week for the Harris-Walz re-election in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, Pelosi is surprised by the energy and enthusiasm of Democrats, especially among young people.
Pelosi said she thought all of the potential vice presidential nominees would have been good choices. But she has made no secret of her preference for former members of the House of Representatives — which Walz is — to counter what she believes are generally more deferential White House administrations to the Senate.
While some were calculating which vice presidential candidate would best help Democrats in swing states, Pelosi said the question for Harris was: Who will help you govern? She said she wasn’t saying good things about Walz, but she was saying good things about all the candidates.
When asked if Democrats would gain control of the House of Representatives, she replied, “That’s the plan.”
Asked if the title of her book was a nod to Trump’s “The Art of the Deal,” she replied: “Nothing I do has anything to do with him, except his downfall.”
