News Brief

'Democratic Colleagues Thought I Would Hurt Them In US Election Race': Biden Names Nancy Pelosi For His Withdrawal

Nishtha Anushree

Aug 12, 2024, 12:06 PM | Updated 12:06 PM IST


US President Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden

US President Joseph R Biden revealed the names of Democrat leaders who pressurised him to drop out of the presidential elections set to be held later this year in an interview with CBS News.

Last month, Biden announced withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race against former president Donald Trump and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic presidential candidate.

Biden said, "A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic."

"You would be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say (something) and I thought it would be a real distraction," Biden said indirectly endorsing rumours of Pelosi orchestrating a coup against him.

Pelosi is a US Legislator, who was called "a master political tactician" by Democratic sources. However, her spokesperson Aaron Bennett refuted allegations that she is plotting to remove Biden.

Some other reports claimed that former US president Barack Obama threatened Biden with the 25th Amendment, saying he had "Kamala's approval" to force him out of the race.

Biden's decision to exit the race followed a poor debate performance against Trump and persistent criticism from the Republican Party about his "inability" to complete another term.

Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.


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