Pelosi: "Time is running short" for Biden to decide on re-election bid
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Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during the MomsRising.org Toddler Choice Awards on Capitol Hill on April 18 in Washington, DC. Photo: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for MomsRising.org
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that "we're all encouraging" President Biden to make a final decision on whether he will continue his re-election bid.
Why it matters: Pelosi is one of just a few top Democrats who could influence Biden's thinking on his political future, despite the president's insistence that he's determined to stay in the 2024 race against former President Trump.
- "She and Clyburn are the only two who could make a difference. And I'm not sure they even can," one House Democrat told Axios.
Zoom in: Biden has repeatedly said that he's not dropping out and dismissed calls to step aside following a poor debate performance that set off a panic among some members of his own party.
- He sent a letter to congressional Democrats on Monday saying it's time to "end" the pressure on him to withdraw.
Driving the news: "It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi said on Morning Joe on Wednesday.
- "We're all encouraging him to to make that decision because time is running short," she said, adding that he is "beloved" and "respected" and "people want him to make that decision, not me."
- When asked whether she wants Biden to run, Pelosi said: "I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that's the way it is. Whatever he decides we go with."
Pelosi later on Wednesday said, "I think [Biden] can win in November."
- After her remarks on Morning Joe, she also told CBS News that, "there are some misrepresentations of what I have said," adding that she "never said he should reconsider his decision."
What we're hearing: Several House Democrats suggested to Axios that Pelosi's comments reflect a genuinely held hesitancy to give her full-throated support to Biden.
- "She chooses words very carefully," one said.
What to watch: Pelosi, who said on Morning Joe that she's very "proud of the president," also suggested that the discussions on Biden's political future should "hold off" until the end of this week's NATO conference.
- "I said to everyone, let's just hold off," Pelosi said.
- "Whatever you're thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week."
The bottom line: "Some say, 'well, he made his decision so the matter is closed.' But even if they want it to be closed, it's not always that simple," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios.
- "Good leaders don't blind themselves to new information … so no matter what people say or wish, I think this will necessarily continue to be fluid, certainly until we get past the NATO summit but maybe all the way to the Dem convention."
Go deeper: Behind the Curtain: Dems who could decide Biden fate
Editor's note: This story was updated with additional reporting and further remarks from Pelosi.
