U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
presents
the
Presidential
Medal
of
Freedom
to
U.S.
Representative
and
former
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi
(D-CA)
during
a
ceremony
at
the
White
House
in
Washington,
U.S.,
May
3,
2024.
Evelyn
Hockstein
|
Reuters
Former
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi,
D-Calif.,
spoke
with
President
Joe
Biden
on
Saturday
about
the
fallout
from
his
disastrous
debate
performance
against
former
President
Donald
Trump
and
how
it’s
hurting
his
legacy,
according
to
a
person
with
direct
knowledge
of
the
matter.
A
day
later,
Biden
announced
on
social
media
that
he
was
dropping
out
of
the
race
and
endorsed
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris.
The
phone
call
between
the
two
was
described
as
“cordial”
by
the
source
and
it’s
unclear
if
the
two
spoke
on
Sunday,
the
same
day
Biden
made
his
decision
to
leave
the
race.
This
source
was
granted
anonymity
in
order
to
speak
freely
about
a
private
conversation.
Press
representatives
for
Pelosi
and
Biden
did
not
immediately
return
requests
for
comment.
A
spokesman
for
Pelosi
later
told
CNBC
after
publication
of
this
story
“not
true.
Speaker
Pelosi
has
not
spoken
to
the
president
since
she
left
Washington
more
than
a
week
ago.”
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
spoke
this
afternoon
with
Biden,
according
to
NBC
News.
Biden
told
his
senior
team
he
changed
his
mind
about
staying
in
the
race
at
1:45
pm
on
Sunday,
according
to
a
source
who
spoke
with
NBC
News.
Biden
previously
said
he
had
no
plans
to
drop
out
of
the
race,
despite
Democrats
in
both
the
House
and
Senate
calling
on
him
to
leave
the
race.
Pelosi
praised
Biden
in
a
statement
after
he
dropped
out
of
the
race.
“His
legacy
of
vision,
values
and
leadership
make
him
one
of
the
most
consequential
Presidents
in
American
history,”
said
Pelosi
on
Sunday.
“With
love
and
gratitude
to
President
Biden
for
always
believing
in
the
promise
of
America
and
giving
people
the
opportunity
to
reach
their
fulfillment.”
For
Pelosi,
the
call
came
after
the
former
House
speaker
reportedly
told
Biden
that
polling
since
his
debate
effort
versus
Trump
shows
he
could
not
defeat
the
former
president
and,
if
he
stayed
in
the
race,
it
could
ruin
Democrats’
chances
of
winning
the
House
in
November.
It
remains
unclear
if
Pelosi
will
endorse
Harris.
