Alyssa Farah Griffin Confronts Biden On Whether Nancy Pelosi Forced Him Out

President Joe Biden sidestepped a question from Alyssa Farah Griffin on whether or not former Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced him to drop out of the election and the current nature of their relationship.

During a Wednesday morning interview on The View , Biden received a very friendly welcome and was mostly asked soft-ball questions before Farah Griffin turned the conversation to the dynamics around Biden’s decision to drop out, which followed weeks of media speculation and infighting in the Democratic Party.

Following Biden’s much-maligned debate with Donald Trump , he faced internal pressure from Democratic lawmakers and pundits to drop out of the race. Initially, Biden resisted calls to step aside before deciding to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in late July — a month before the Democratic convention.

Back in July, Pelosi slammed The New York Times after she claimed the newspaper misrepresented her comments about Biden needing to step aside. During an MSNBC interview she said, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do.”

Below is a transcript of Biden and Farah Griffin’s exchange:

GRIFFIN: Mr. President. We all agree at this table it was very selfless of you to pass the baton and step aside. There was a perception that perhaps your hand was forced and some pointed fingers to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who you have a long relationship with and accomplished many things with. Did you feel that your hand was forced? And what is your relationship with Speaker Pelosi now?

BIDEN: Our relationship is fine. Look. I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance of my running again. I didn’t sense that. And although the polling, they said Biden’s polling was different, the fact of the matter is my polling was about where, you know, we’re always within range of beating this guy…It makes sense. There are some folks who would like to see me step aside so they have a chance to move on. I get that, that’s human nature. But that wasn’t the reason that I stepped down. I stepped down because I started thinking about it. You know, it’s hard to think. I know you’re only 30…It’s hard for me to even say how old I am.

Watch the clip above via ABC’s The View .