Pelosi Privately Fields Battleground Dem Calls as She Works to Address Biden Crisis

The former speaker gave the distinct impression that she wanted the president to take himself off the ticket, according to a battleground House Democrat who spoke to Nancy Pelosi recently.

House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi arrives for a House Democratic Caucus meeting at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Nancy Pelosi is not telling members what she plans to do with the information she is receiving from the Democrats who seek her out. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

By SARAH FERRIS

07/16/2024 05:39 PM EDT

One House Democrat anxious about President Joe Biden’s effect on the 2024 campaign recently sought out guidance from a trusted party leader: Nancy Pelosi.

This lawmaker, who represents a swing seat and was granted anonymity to describe private conversations, said Pelosi asked detailed questions about congressional district-level polling and was “very receptive” to concerns that Biden couldn’t win in November. The member ended the phone call with the distinct impression that Pelosi believed Biden should exit the presidential race.

This lawmaker said the former speaker offered to talk to any other members of Congress who wanted to reach out to her with concerns — though Pelosi cautioned that she would not be initiating those conversations herself.

The conversation described by this lawmaker is the latest example of Pelosi’s behind-the-scenes role in guiding her party as it struggles to find its way through Biden’s political crisis.

Pelosi is not telling members what she plans to do with the information she is receiving from the Democrats who seek her out. But many of her colleagues see her as a last hope of a kind — believing that Pelosi, having stepped down from leadership herself to make way for generational change, may be the best possible messenger to break through with Biden.

“She’s the political voice of the Democratic caucus right now,” said another House Democrat who has spoken with her, noting there’s no one better to assess the damage that Biden’s candidacy would do to the ranks of the caucus.

“She’s been exclusively focused on winning the House for the last 20 odd years,” that member added, noting that they believed Pelosi is “trying to be respectful” given that she is no longer officially in leadership and has long made clear she does not want to bigfoot House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Jeffries, for his part, had a private meeting with Biden last week to relay the broad concerns of his caucus. But Jeffries has revealed nothing about that meeting, including whether he personally asked Biden to withdraw from the ticket — though he did release a statement the next day that many members interpreted as an effort to provide political cover for them to continue voicing concerns about the president.

Those who have known Pelosi for decades are predicting that she is, indeed, playing a game of “3-D chess,” according to five Democratic lawmakers and senior aides. She built a reputation for being incredibly strategic during her reign atop the caucus, which included managing the two impeachments of Donald Trump and passing enormous, complex bills like the Affordable Care Act.

It didn’t go unnoticed, for instance, that dozens of Democrats are now clamoring to be part of a letter to delay Biden’s nomination process — led by Pelosi ally Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), whose sprawling district is just north of San Francisco.

The same day, it was reported that another of Pelosi’s closest allies, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), had warned at a private fundraiser that he believed Biden would keep Democrats from winning the House.

“Nancy Pelosi has one of the strongest cases to make,” said one Democratic aide to a member who has voiced concerns about Biden’s electability. “She stepped down and passed the torch.”