Pelosi, Long Fixated on Winning, Is in No Mood to Lose With Biden
The former speaker has been marshaling her knowledge of the political map, polling data and fund-raising information to press her case with President Biden that his re-election is in serious doubt.
Nancy Pelosi is all about winning. Regarded by many as her party’s most ruthless tactician, she fought her way to the top of the Democratic leadership in the House, won the majority not once but twice and retained her speakership by putting down a rebellion from younger Democrats demanding she pass the torch to a new generation.
And the former speaker is in no mood to start losing now, as evidence mounts that President Biden is staring at a major defeat that could drag his party down with him.
In private conversations with Mr. Biden, colleagues and allies, Ms. Pelosi, the Californian who still wields tremendous influence in her party and is seen by many as key to resolving the status of Mr. Biden’s candidacy, has let it be known in the days since his disastrous debate performance that she is skeptical that the president can win. And his loss, she fears, could cost her party its chance to win back the House, potentially its only firewall against a second Donald J. Trump presidency.
Ms. Pelosi, according to those who have talked with her, conveyed those sentiments in phone calls with the president and with alarmed colleagues who have reached out to her for guidance on what to do. The former speaker is intimately familiar with the minutiae of campaigns from her years following House races district by district, and she has been marshaling her knowledge of the political map, polling data and fund-raising information to press her case with Mr. Biden.
One ally said that Ms. Pelosi told Mr. Biden in a recent call that she had seen polling data suggesting that he could not win, and the president had pushed back, saying he had polls showing otherwise.
Ms. Pelosi, never shy in such situations, challenged him on that.
“Put Donilon on the phone,” Ms. Pelosi told the president, referring to Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime aide, according to people familiar with the exchange, which was reported earlier by CNN. “Show me what polls.”
Aides to Ms. Pelosi, a prodigious fund-raiser and a firm believer in the power of money in campaigns, have also sought detailed fund-raising information from the Biden campaign in recent days to help the former speaker assess the status of the campaign, according to two people familiar with the request.
“She does not think he can win,” said one Pelosi confidant who asked not to be identified. People interviewed for this article spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
The declarations over the past two days that President Biden should step aside or seriously consider doing so, by two leading House Democrats known to be close to Ms. Pelosi — Representatives Adam B. Schiff of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland — only intensified the focus on Ms. Pelosi’s behind-the-scenes activities, though it was unclear what role she played if any in the timing of their public statements.
As the intense political drama has played out, Ms. Pelosi has been characteristically private and also careful in both her public and private statements, leaving them open to interpretation and leaving room for backtracking should Mr. Biden refuse to abandon his campaign and remain the party’s nominee. She is also aware of the need to be deferential and respectful of Mr. Biden’s long service and the legislative milestones they reached together.
But at a time when the top Democrats in Congress have stayed notably mum about Mr. Biden’s fate, it has fallen to Ms. Pelosi, the 84-year-old who has long been known for her political toughness and skill, to send critical signals that the president must at least consider abandoning his bid. She did so last week on MSNBC when, days after Mr. Biden had said only divine intervention could get him out of the presidential race and declared in a letter to members of Congress that he intended to run, Ms. Pelosi said: “It’s up to the president to decide if he’s going to run.”
“She is a fighter and is always thinking strategically,” said Representative John B. Larson of Connecticut, who served in the Democratic leadership with her and said he had not talked to Ms. Pelosi about the Biden situation. “She knows the dance very well.”
People who have talked with her say Ms. Pelosi is motivated by the prospect of a second Trump administration unraveling her hard-fought accomplishments from two decades as leader, including the Affordable Care Act. She also views Mr. Trump as an existential threat who drove the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, is totally unsuited and unqualified to be president, and is a tool of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“With him, all roads lead to Putin,” Ms. Pelosi said in 2020 of Mr. Trump.
In a carefully worded response to reports on what Ms. Pelosi had told Mr. Biden in the phone call about his political future and that of House Democrats, her spokesman did not deny that she had shared data showing the president could not win if he chose to carry on and pressed him on what other data he could be basing his decision on.
“Speaker Pelosi respects the confidentiality of her meetings and conversations with the president of the United States,” the spokesman said. “Sadly, the feeding frenzy from the press based on anonymous sources misrepresents any conversations the speaker may have had with the president.”
Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, also did not dispute the account, saying: “President Biden is the nominee of the party. He plans to win and looks forward to working with congressional Democrats to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families”
The push by Ms. Pelosi meshed with efforts by both Senator Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and majority leader, and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, to convey to Mr. Biden the rising alarm among congressional Democrats about him losing the election and leaving them in the minority in both chambers of Congress.
In separate face-to-face meetings last week with Mr. Biden, the two leaders laid out in detail the views of colleagues, many of whom believe the president should step aside to protect both his own legacy and their seats.
While aides to Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries have all cautioned that nobody but them and Mr. Biden knows precisely what was said in their confidential conversations, none have denied the nature of the talks, issued a statement endorsing him or called on their colleagues to rally behind him as the party nominee. In fact, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries intervened this week to slow the process of nominating Mr. Biden, which some party officials had weighed starting as soon as next week, well before the Aug. 19 start of the Democratic National Convention.
Allies say Ms. Pelosi is accepting calls from worried lawmakers but not initiating them, hearing them out and encouraging them to make their views known. She must also be careful not to be seen as undermining or usurping the role of her protégé and successor, Mr. Jeffries, who regularly consults with her.
Ms. Pelosi has faced her own questions over the years about trying to retain power as she grew older. After Democrats regained the House majority in 2018, she confronted a rebellion aimed at preventing her from returning as speaker, though she managed to quell it with a pledge to limit her tenure to four years.
Still, after House Democrats lost the majority in 2022, Ms. Pelosi briefly pondered trying to remain as leader. She ultimately stepped aside to make way for Mr. Jeffries, 53, allowing a generational change. She now evidently believes it would be best for Mr. Biden, Democrats and the country if Mr. Biden did the same.
Reid J. Epstein and Annie Karni contributed reporting from Milwaukee.
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