The White House on Monday insisted there was no bad blood between President Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the two stopped speaking when he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
“The president respects his good friend and I think it’s mutual,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “No hard feelings [and] I think it’s mutual.”
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, was said to have pushed heavily for Mr. Biden to drop out of the race after his devastating debate performance against former President Donald Trump in June.
She has denied reports that she forced Mr. Biden out of the race.
She reportedly joined former President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, to pressure Mr. Biden to pass the torch to another candidate, saying he could not beat Mr. Trump.
Mrs. Pelosi revealed last month that she has not spoken to Mr. Biden since he bowed out of the race. When asked during a television interview Sunday if there was a way back for her friendship with Mr. Biden, Mrs. Pelosi demurred.
“In our family, we have three generations of love for Joe Biden. My husband and I, of course, we’ve known him for a very long time — respect him, love him and Jill. He and Jill are so remarkable and their family and our kids have always loved them. I had pictures with him from our children growing up and our grandchildren growing up,” Mrs. Pelosi said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”
“But the most important thing we have to do is win the election just to sustain his legacy and have the legacy be to do even more in the presidency and vice presidency of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” she continued.
Appearing on CNN last month, Mrs. Pelosi was asked if everything was good with her relationship with Mr. Biden.
“You’d have to ask him,” she said. “But I hope so.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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