How 'master tactician' Nancy Pelosi quietly sealed Biden's fate

WASHINGTON — Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down from her powerful perch leading House Democrats nearly a year and a half ago. But behind the scenes, sources say, Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, played a critical role in delicately nudging President Joe Biden to the exits.

Although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Pelosi’s protégé, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, also told Biden about Democrats' concerns about him continuing his campaign, three sources told NBC News that any time the issue of his dropping out began to die down and lose momentum, they viewed Pelosi as the one fanning the flames.

Unlike Schumer and Jeffries, Pelosi is no longer on the Democratic leadership team and could afford to be more front and center in the effort to push Biden out after his disastrous debate performance last month.

“I think Pelosi continues to show she’s a master political tactician,” a House Democratic leadership aide said Sunday.

Throughout Democrats’ painful three-week ordeal, Pelosi never publicly called on Biden to quit the race; neither did Schumer or Jeffries. Doing so could infuriate Biden and cause him to become intransigent and never step aside.

Instead, Pelosi worked quietly and methodically, speaking to scores of rank-and-file lawmakers, members of her old leadership team and her large network of Democratic donors who had once made her the party’s most prolific fundraiser.

For those vulnerable rank-and-file lawmakers who reached out to her seeking guidance, two sources said, Pelosi advised that they “speak their conscience” in the days leading up to Biden’s stunning decision to drop out. A source close to Pelosi made it clear that she was not initiating conversations but fielding calls. On Friday, 13 congressional Democrats called on Biden to exit the race, the most defections in a single day, handing him what would be the fatal blow to his campaign.

“That groundswell on Friday of members calling for him to step down was all Nancy’s doing,” said a vulnerable House Democrat who spoke with Pelosi last week.

During their call, the lawmaker said, Pelosi asked twice about poll numbers — both for the lawmaker and for Biden in this person’s swing district — so she could write them down.

“The gist was that she felt our ability to take back the majority was at risk,” the Democrat, a member of the party's "Frontline" program for vulnerable congressional incumbents, told NBC News.

Asked how responsible Pelosi was for Biden’s stepping down, the lawmaker replied: “50%.”

Follow live updates on Biden's exit from the 2024 race

It was all vintage Pelosi, who made history as the first female speaker of the House and ruled House Democrats with a velvet glove for two decades: guide Democrats to where they needed to go and have them make the decision.In this case, the key Democrat was Joe Biden. And all in the party knew that he would have to be the one to make the final call to bow out.

When Biden dug in and declared he absolutely wouldn’t drop out of the race, Pelosi appeared on his favorite show, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” She kept the issue alive by saying Biden needs to make a decision “because time is running short,” even as he and his campaign insisted he had decided to stay in.

In a private phone call a week after her MSNBC appearance, Pelosi warned Biden, 81 — someone she has known in Washington for more than 30 years — about the realities of the 2024 race: He could lose so badly to their mutual political foe, Republican Donald Trump, that he could damage Democrats down ballot and possibly cost them control of the House and the Senate.

And after last weekend’s assassination attempt on Trump shocked the nation and appeared to stall momentum to push Biden out, a trio of close Pelosi allies brought the story back to the forefront.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a vocal Trump critic who is the favorite to be California’s next senator, on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call on Biden to step aside. Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents a Bay Area district next to Pelosi’s, organized a successful effort to delay the Democratic National Committee from quickly coronating Biden as the party’s nominee through a virtual roll call. Huffman and a third Pelosi ally, Bay Area Rep. Zoe Lofgren, were among the surge of lawmakers calling on Biden to leave the race Friday.

No other Democrat understands the stakes of a possible second Trump term better than Pelosi, Schiff and Lofgren. Pelosi, hunted by pro-Trump rioters during the Capitol attack and later targeted at home by a man who fractured her husband’s skull with a hammer, appointed Schiff, Lofgren and others to the Jan. 6 select committee that concluded that Trump was to blame for the effort to overturn the 2020 election results and the deadly riot.

“It was certainly notable that so many of her longest California allies were so outspoken,” said Rep. Katie Porter, who lost the Democratic nomination for the Senate in California to Schiff this year after Pelosi endorsed him.

A Democratic lawmaker said of Pelosi’s strategy to affect the outcome she desires, “She deploys her assets.”

A former Democratic leadership aide added: “Biden has a history of losing and winning. Pelosi doesn’t make moves unless she knows she will win.”

Asked about the impetus for her statement Friday, Lofgren didn't dismiss her proximity to Pelosi — they’ve served together for nearly three decades — but said it was a decision she made herself. “She is not directing anyone to do anything. This is from me,” Lofgren said on MSNBC.

Biden was angered and hurt when Pelosi, his former running mate Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders declined to support him, sources said. But when he announced his decision Sunday, Pelosi was quick with a magnanimous statement.

“President Joe Biden is a patriotic American who has always put our country first. His legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history,” she said. “With love and gratitude to President Biden for always believing in the promise of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment. God blessed America with Joe Biden’s greatness and goodness."

Shortly after he announced he wouldn’t stand for re-election, Biden quickly endorsed his vice president and running mate, Kamala Harris, to replace him on the ballot. Party luminaries quickly followed his lead, including Schiff; Bill and Hillary Clinton; Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a top Biden ally and longtime member of Democratic leadership; Senate President Pro Tem Patty Murray of Washington, who is third in line to the presidency; and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

But Pelosi, Schumer and Jeffries haven’t yet endorsed Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney who has known Pelosi for decades. Given her track record, Pelosi could play a key role in either securing the nomination for Harris or helping a potential rival get the nod at the convention in Chicago in August, though many of Harris’ potential rivals, including a fellow Californian, Gov. Gavin Newsom, have already endorsed her for president.

Pelosi is “politically still our leader,” the Frontline Democrat said. “She and she alone can ensure Kamala’s success.”

Not all Democrats believe Pelosi’s efforts have put the party in a better position for November. Some worry that Republicans will follow through on threats to sue to keep Biden on the ballot, arguing that to replace him would disenfranchise 14 million primary voters who cast their votes for him.

“Pelosi pushed him and left us with no plan. Is it Harris? Who knows?” a former House Democratic leadership aide said. “But I do know that Republicans will definitely spend millions of dollars trying to tie this up in court. It could be worse than the 2000 election.”