Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., engaged in a contentious exchange with journalist Katie Couric during an interview that examined the Democratic Party’s commitment to “transparency” regarding President Biden’s capabilities.
Couric highlighted a passage from Pelosi’s recent book, in which she cautions that an “intervention” was necessary to thwart former President Trump’s bid for re-election due to his claims about the 2020 election. She questioned if Democrats should have similarly intervened for Biden, who had recently opted out of his re-election campaign following pressure from Pelosi and other senior Democrats due to worries about his cognitive fitness and competitiveness against former President Trump.
“With all due respect, when I read that, I thought, ‘Couldn’t the same concerns be raised about President Biden?’” Couric asked Pelosi. “Shouldn’t there have been an earlier assessment of whether he had the endurance to go through a re-election campaign, ultimately positioning the Democratic Party more favorably for this election?”
Journalist Katie Couric questioned former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the Democratic Party’s transparency regarding concerns about President Biden’s age. (Getty Images)
PELOSI SHIES AWAY FROM CONFIRMING IF ‘ALL IS WELL’ BETWEEN HER AND BIDEN: ‘YOU’D HAVE TO ASK HIM’
Reports indicate that Pelosi and other high-ranking Democrats implored Biden privately to exit the 2024 race following his poor debate performance against Trump, citing polls suggesting he would lose and jeopardize Democratic chances down the ballot. Biden subsequently withdrew from the race on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
In response to Couric’s questions, summarized by The Daily Caller, Pelosi claimed the two situations contrasted sharply.
“Determining whether someone has the stamina to run again and serve a full four-year term is distinct from whether you are undercutting our democracy,” she asserted. “The focus was on the damage he posed to the nation, the instability he created, and his anti-patriotic behavior. It was not solely about his physical ability to fulfill duties… It was about his distortion of reality and how he misrepresented facts to the public.”
“These are two entirely different contexts. If we are simply questioning if an individual has the stamina to serve four years, we have addressed that. They have not,” she clarified.
President Biden exited the 2024 presidential race on July 21 after weeks of pressure from Democratic leaders to withdraw.
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Couric inquired again if there should have been “greater transparency” from Democrats regarding Biden’s health.
Pelosi reiterated that the two situations were not “equivalent” before Couric challenged her further.
“But that doesn’t address whether there should have been increased transparency,” Couric contended. “If President Biden was too shielded from public scrutiny for an extended period, could that have put the Democratic Party at a disadvantage, considering the election is less than 100 days away?”
Pelosi once again sidestepped the question, stating, “He’s not the candidate.”
“Should this have been addressed earlier?” Couric continued to press.
Katie Couric challenged Nancy Pelosi on the Democratic Party’s “transparency” about President Biden’s health during the 2024 election cycle.
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Pelosi mentioned that in the lead-up to the debate and following it, Biden had been “performing at an A-plus level,” referencing the successful exchange to bring home reporter Evan Gershkovich alongside others last week.
The 84-year-old Democrat has consistently defended Biden in interviews concerning his age. To Couric, she admitted that the June debate was the first moment she noticed a decline.
“Regardless of what family decisions were made — I collaborated with Biden quite frequently. I never perceived it because our interactions were usually earlier in the day when he was more engaged than what I observed that evening. That night [of the debate] marked the first time I witnessed it…. [However,] he’s not the one running, the other candidate is,” she stated.
