Pelosi gives Democrats breathing room to criticize Biden fitness
By
David Sivak
and
Cami Mondeaux
July 10, 2024 1:15 pm
.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is giving Democrats tacit permission to question President Joe Biden’s place atop the ticket with comments suggesting she is not entirely sold on his run for president.
House leaders have generally stood by Biden since his disastrous debate performance two weeks ago, offering brief but supportive remarks that have helped keep a rank-and-file revolt against the president at bay.
Yet Pelosi, who remains a powerful figure despite stepping down from leadership last year, has gone the furthest in giving voice to colleagues who want a new nominee challenging former President Donald Trump in the fall.
Days after Biden delivered a halting and at times incoherent debate performance, Pelosi said it is “legitimate” to ask whether the 81-year-old Biden has a cognitive condition or whether his stumbles were a momentary lapse.
Then, on Wednesday, she would not say if Biden should stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Pelosi later complained that her remarks were being “misrepresented” in the media. She is not calling on Biden to reconsider his run for president, she insisted, reiterating her view that he has been a “great” president, according to CBS News.
But the fact that she urged Biden to make a decision — he has unequivocally said he is staying in the race — has fueled the impression that his candidacy is still very much an open question.
more
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/3076419/pelosi-democrats-breathing-room-criticize-biden-fitness/
