Joe Biden fury at ‘ruthless’ plot to install Kamala Harris

The sudden elevation of Kamala Harris as the Democrat candidate for US president may have energised the party in its battle against Donald Trump’s Republicans. But Mr Biden believes he could have hung on, despite his disastrous debate performance in late June, were it not for some of his closest allies deserting him.

Those vanishing allies include former president Barack Obama and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

That could become awkward next week when the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago.

This will see Ms Harris and her running Tim Walz take to the stage as part of a four day campaign blitz.

Mr Biden, who insists he is “coming to terms” with his dumping, is also due to give a speech. But he will be surrounded by Democrats, including Mr Obama and Ms Pelosi, who he believes could and should have done more.

Website Politico has reported that Mr Biden’s “frustration” is most focused on Nancy Pelosi, one of the most senior figures in the Democratic Party.

He has not spoken to her since his ousting.

Pelosi’s critical role

Mr Biden’s inner circle thought, perhaps optimistically, that two weeks following the debate his campaign could still be salvaged.

To this day, Mr Biden has said that his shocking demeanour, where he spoke with a soft, raspy voice and repeatedly appeared to lose his train of thought, was due to being sick and nothing to do with his mental sharpness.

However, on July 10, Ms Pelosi appeared on the MSNBC show Morning Joe and effectively blew up his chances, they believe.

“It’s up to the President to decide if he is going to run,” Mr Pelosi said on the show where she pointedly failed to support him.

“We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”

The Biden campaign team said that interview allowed other Democrats to then publicly register their misgivings.

It’s also understood that Ms Pelosi, someone who had been a colleague and a friend to Mr Biden for decades, had threatened to go further and make public her belief that Mr Trump would defeat him.

“Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard way,” one Democrat has said.

“She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way.”

Ms Pelosi has said she had “never called one person,” to seek to dislodge Mr Biden.

“I kept true to my word. Any conversation I had, it was just going to be with him.”

But she has admitted that people called her during the backlash against Mr Biden.

‘Ruthless’

A senior White House official told Politico that behind closed doors Mr Biden viewed Ms Pelosi as “ruthless” as she was willing to destroy their relationship to ensure he stepped out of the race.

“That’s who she has always been,” the official said.

However, Mr Biden also had a grudging understanding that Ms Pelosi was acting in what she saw as the best interests of the Democratic Party.

“She did what she had to do” Mr Biden said, according to the website, adding that Ms Pelosi “cares about the party,” much more than she does about personal feelings among friends.

In an interview with US TV station CBS last weekend, Mr Biden’s frustration with Ms Pelosi came to the surface. She was the only person he namechecked as playing a role in his downfall.

“A number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” he said in the interview.

“And I was concerned if I stayed in the race that would be the topic; you’d be interviewing me about why did Nancy Pelosi say (something) … and I thought it’d be a real distraction”.

Frustration at Obama

It’s not just Nancy Pelosi Mr Biden has issue with. There’s also Barack Obama who the President thought could have come out more strongly in support of his remaining in the race.

Mr Obama did put a supportive social media post up in the hours after the debate. But then went practically silent.

Those within Mr Biden’s circle said Mr Obama, someone he considers a friend, has never called him to talk to him directly about any post-debate concerns he might have had.

They conceded Mr Obama didn’t orchestrate a campaign to remove his former vice president. But he also didn’t do much to support him remaining in the race to face Mr Trump at the polls.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden had “no hard feelings,” against Ms Pelosi.

Ms Pelosi has been effusive in her praise of Ms Harris and Mr Walz. And she has also said that her family has “always loved” the Bidens.