President Biden admits pressure from Democrats contributed to decision to drop out

"The polls we had showed that it was a neck-and-neck race, it would have been down to the wire," Biden added. 

 

PELOSI DEMURS ON IF ‘EVERYTHING IS OK’ BETWEEN HER AND BIDEN: ‘YOU’D HAVE TO ASK HIM'

Pelosi recently revealed that she and Biden have not spoken since he dropped out of the race. 

The former House speaker also continues to deny she told the president to drop out. She told reporters during a recent interview that the president didn't have a path to victory.

"Now I was really asking for a better campaign. We did not have a campaign that was on the path to victory. Members knew that in their districts," Pelosi told reporters.

 

"When I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president. I can’t even say how old I am. It’s hard for me to get out of my mouth. But things got moving so quickly, it didn’t happen. And the combination was that I thought it was a critical issue for me still, it’s not a joke, maintaining this democracy," Biden said during the interview with Costa.

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After firmly telling his Democratic colleagues he was going to remain in the race, Pelosi joined the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," one of the president's favorite news programs, and indicated his decision was not final.

"It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We are all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short," Pelosi told MSNBC when previously asked if she would be supporting his bid for re-election.

Pelosi has said that it wasn't her intention to put him on the spot during her interview on "Morning Joe," but acknowledged that it re-opened the discussion over whether he should be replaced on the ticket, according to reports. 

"He may think that my statement unleashed something — I don’t know, because I haven’t spoken to him since," Pelosi told reporters recently, according to the Washington Post.