The untold story of how Nancy Pelosi forced Biden to quit with a brutal phone call and humiliating ultimatum that ruined 50 years of friendship... and has left Jill and Joe furious
By Emily Goodin, Senior White House Correspondent
Published: 01:35 EDT, 16 August 2024 | Updated: 09:19 EDT, 16 August 2024
The exact circumstances that led to President Joe Biden's dramatic withdrawal from the 2024 election race have been the topic of frenzied conversation for weeks.
Ever since Biden tweeted his digitally signed letter announcing the decision on Sunday, June 21, the line from the White House has been clear: The president was not pushed. This was his choice alone.
Sympathetic insiders described a weekend of 'reflection' for the president – who had recently tested postive for COVID and was holed up in isolation with his wife Jill and a handful of trusted aides at the Biden family home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
On the Saturday night, and after weeks of insisting that he would run again, something 'shifted', the Biden insiders said. The president asked his closest advisors to begin drafting his letter. Suddenly, it was all over.
That much may be true. But these insiders have continually left out a crucial piece of the puzzle that explains why Biden's thinking changed so rapidly and which the Mail can now exclusively reveal for the first time.
As Biden nursed his COVID infection that fateful Saturday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent an urgent message to the president: She was prepared to go public with her concerns that he could not defeat Donald Trump in November.
The ultimatum was clear: Drop out now – or Pelosi trashes her political ally, and friend of over 50 years, on the global stage.
Four sources with intimate knowledge of the situation independently claimed that such a message was relayed, with one particularly well-placed source saying that a phone call took place in which Pelosi told Biden she would publish brutal polling figures to back up her attack.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13748441/Nancy-Pelosi-forced-Biden-quit-brutal-phone-call-ultimatum.html
