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Joe Biden FINALLY reveals how Nancy Pelosi pushed him to quit election race and opens up on Dems' plot to oust him
President Joe Biden finally admitted that Nancy Pelosi 's concerns about other Democratic races contributed to his decision to exit the race.
'A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,' Biden said in his first interview since ending his reelection campaign.
'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,' he said in the interview with CBS News Sunday Morning host Robert Costa.
A growing list of Democrats were calling for Biden to drop out of the race after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
Joe Biden opened up about dropping out of the race in his first interview since ending his reelection bid with CBS Sunday Morning
Biden said that had he remained in, the race would have been razor close – although polls before he dropped out showed him behind in all the battleground states and in a tight but inferior position nationally.
'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 said.
Immediately after ending his bid, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his spot on the ticket in November. That began a period where Harris shot up in the polls, with her own approval rating rising while Republican Donald Trump adjusts to his new opponent.
Former House Speaker Pelosi was among those building pressure on Biden to step aside, along with other top Party Leaders like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Adam Schiff.
Biden's struggles were on display during his debate disaster with Trump and Democrats who were for years downplaying concerns about the president's fitness were forced to confront it, with many suddenly demanding he exit the race.
In the weeks after the debate, Biden was on clean-up duty – but his efforts just led to more gaffes and fumbles that increased worries that the president could hurt the chances of other Democratic politicians in their elections.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those building pressure on Biden to step aside – and Biden said he became more and more worried his continued candidacy would affect congressional races in the fall
Biden took a morning bike ride Sunday on the morning his interview with CBS aired
He ignored a shouted question about claims he is angry about getting pushed out, and flashed a smile while passing reporters and photographers
Biden insisted he only wanted to be a one-term, 'transition president' to welcome in new leadership and acknowledged he might be too old to be president.
'When I ran the first time, I thought of myself of being a transition president,' Biden said.
'I can't even say how old I am, it's hard for me to get out of my mouth,' he continued/ But, things got moving so quickly, it didn't happen.'
Biden's decision to invoke Pelosi comes after reports of a lingering strain. Senior advisor Anita Dunn, who is leaving the White House to join a pro-Harris super PAC, also spoke to the pressure campaign in recent comments.
'You know, clearly there were leaders of the party who decided to go ahead and go very public. And that gave permission to other people to go public,' she said.
Asked about rumors Biden was furious, Pelosi told the New Yorker magazine, 'He knows that I love him very much. I pray so. I cry so.'
Whatever fury there may have been over a debate that split Democrats into two camps, family members rallied behind his ultimate decision. Asked what he told them right after the speech announcing he would step back, Biden told CBS, 'It's what they said to me. They said, my-- my grandchildren call me Pop. My-- my children call me Dad. And-- they said they were proud, and it mattered to me a lot.'
If Biden is still stewing over his decision, he wasn't showing it this weekend around his Delaware beach house.
He went for a bike ride of nearly an hour Sunday, getting cheered by visitors who waited to see him. He biked by reporters without answering a question about Trump's comment that he is a 'very angry man' about being pushed out by leaders.
On Saturday, he headed to the beach with wife Jill and granddaughter Naomi. That all happened while the burden fell to Harris to speak to growing crowds in Arizona and Nevada.
He is planning his first joint appearance with Harris next week in Maryland. Asked if people would see him campaigning with Harris, Biden responded: 'Yes, you will.'