Jill Biden has publicly turned on Nancy Pelosi, criticising her “disappointing” move to oust her husband from the presidential race.
Ms Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, was instrumental in whipping up Democratic opposition to Joe Biden following his dire debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
Mrs Biden said the intervention had been “on my mind lately”, as the first couple prepares to leave the White House following Donald Trump’s election victory over Kamala Harris in November.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships… we were friends for 50 years,” she told The Washington Post. “It was disappointing.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mrs Biden said she “learned a lot about human nature” during her time in the White House and was “disappointed with how it [her husband’s departure from office] unfolded”.
Nancy Pelosi, pictured with daughter Christine, was friends with Jill Biden for 50 years, according to the First Lady – Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty
In July, Ms Pelosi refused to publicly back Mr Biden’s re-election bid on his favourite TV programme, Morning Joe, which his aides believe gave the green light to other Democrats and donors to move against him.
She is reported to have presented the US president with private polling the same month to convince him that he could not beat Mr Trump in the election.
Ahead of polling day, Mr Biden is said to have grudgingly acknowledged that the former speaker “did what she had to do” in ousting him.
However, following Mr Trump’s commanding win in November, he has repeatedly said he believes he could have beaten the Republican as he did in the 2020 election.
In a series of interviews, he claimed he “would have beaten Trump, could have beaten Trump” and that polling indicated he would have done so.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that a rift had opened between Mr Biden and Ms Harris over his contention.
The vice president, who proved reluctant to criticise her boss during her 107-day campaign for the White House, is said to have told allies and family members she was disappointed with the claim he would have succeeded where she failed.
Figures close to Ms Harris said Mr Biden’s assertion showed the “one-sided loyalty” of their relationship.
Jill Biden told the Washington Post she felt ‘disappointed’ by the actions of Ms Pelosi – Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg
Kirsten Allen, a spokeswoman for Ms Harris, said the pair had “developed a close working relationship as governing partners, but they have also built a strong friendship that continues today.”
Following Mr Trump’s election victory in November, Ms Pelosi claimed Mr Biden had hobbled his vice president’s chances by staying in the race too long.
If he had “gotten out sooner” there would have been a primary contest which would either have left Ms Harris in a “stronger” position or allowed other candidates to come forward, she told a New York Times podcast.
In her Washington Post interview, Mrs Biden also revealed details of her conversation with Mr Trump when they met at the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral last month.
“I had a good meeting with your husband in the Oval Office,” the Republican said, according to Mrs Biden, adding that his visit to the White House in November lasted for two hours.
She is said to have replied: “Yes, because you’re both talkers.”
Asked why she appeared to be on friendly terms with Mr Trump, who has repeatedly labelled her husband “crooked”, she answered: “Joe and I respect our institutions, our traditions… What would be the point of nastiness?”
It comes as Mr Biden warned of a new tech “oligarchy” that “threatens our entire democracy” on Wednesday evening in his farewell speech before he leaves the White House.
Biden is said to have acknowledged Pelosi, pictured centre, “did what she had to do” to oust him from the presidential race – Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty
Speaking from the Oval Office, the outgoing US president criticised social media bosses who are “giving up on fact-checking” and burying Americans in an “avalanche of disinformation and misinformation”.
His comments were interpreted as a thinly veiled attack on Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire owners of X and Facebook, who have scrapped fact-checkers on their platforms, claiming they hinder free speech.
Channelling president Dwight Eisenhower, who spoke in his 1961 farewell address about the rise of a “military-industrial complex”, Mr Biden warned of the “potential rise of a tech industrial complex” that threatened to undermine US democracy.
Mr Biden said: “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power.
“The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking.
“The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”
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