The Democratic Party’s most influential former leaders share huge concerns about President Joe Biden ’s reelection bid.
According to CNN , multiple individuals in contact with former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) say the two Democratic elders have spoken with each other about worries their friend is on a losing streak with little hope of winning another four years in the White House.
Both Obama and Pelosi share a long history with Biden, and that record of deep-rooted relationships with the president could be key to convincing him to relinquish his ambitions for a second term.
A Pelosi spokesperson did not rebut CNN’s report that Pelosi and Obama have spoken about Biden.
“There is no member of Congress who would have any knowledge of any conversation that Speaker Pelosi would have with President Obama. Anyone who says they do is not speaking the truth,” a spokesperson told the outlet. CNN says it spoke to more than a dozen members of Congress, operatives, and multiple people who have spoken to Obama and Pelosi.
While publicly, Obama has kept his hands off any approach to herd Biden out of the presidential race, recent reports indicate the former president hasn't done anything behind the scenes to keep the efforts from moving forward.
George Clooney wrote a scathing essay demanding Biden step out of the race that set off a new firestorm of criticism of the president. It was later reported the actor ran the piece by Obama before sending it to the New York Times. It isn't clear whether the former president weighed in on the content of the argument, but he also didn't appear to try and change the actor's mind about launching the attack.
During a segment on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough continued the allegations that Obama is at work behind the scenes, saying the White House is “deeply resentful” of the top Democrat’s work to undercut his friend’s bid for reelection.
“What’s going on behind the scenes is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this,” host Scarborough said Thursday of the Democratic panic. “Joe Biden is deeply resentful of his treatment under not only the Obama staff but also the way he was pushed aside for Hillary Clinton.”
Scarborough's claims came after reports Obama raised doubts about Biden's electability after his stumbling performance during the first presidential debate.
Meanwhile, Pelosi indicated Biden’s adamant vow to stay in the race wasn’t a final decision during a media appearance on Wednesday.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe in a less-than-enthusiastic show of support for the commander in chief. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
The former House speaker's words belied the president’s unequivocal decision to stay in the race.
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Pelosi is facing upheaval within her own ranks as multiple House Democratic members have publicly called for Biden to end his campaign. After the president delivered another shaky performance during a high-stakes press conference Thursday evening, three more House Democrats urged their party leader to drop his reelection bid.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Obama and Pelosi's teams.
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