Nancy Pelosi threatened to publicly destroy Joe Biden if he didn't cede presidential nomination to Kamala Harris: report

Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 20, after weeks of growing calls for him to step aside following his dismal debate showing. Biden insiders have revealed to the Daily Mail that former House speaker Nancy Pelosi issued an ultimatum to Biden the night before he officially exited the race.

Four sources with immediate knowledge of the situation told the outlet that as Biden was at the Biden family home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware recovering from Covid, Pelosi sent an "urgent message" to Biden that she would go public with her concerns about whether Biden could defeat Trump in November.



"The ultimatum was clear: Drop out now – or Pelosi trashes her political ally, and friend of over 50 years, on the global stage," the Daily Mail reported. One well-placed source said that there was a phone call between Pelosi and Biden in which the former House Speaker said she would publish polling figures to back up her concerns.

Her demand reportedly sparked a "come to Jesus moment" for Biden, who began drafting his letter announcing his withdrawal from the race. The White House and Pelosi’s office denied that the two spoke on the phone.

In his first television interview following his dropout, Biden told CBS, "The polls we had showed that it was a neck and neck race, woulda been down to the wire. But what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic."

He added, "And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic — you'd be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say [something] … and I thought it'd be a real distraction."