President Biden was clearly coerced into withdrawing as a presidential candidate. He had no realistic alternative. Now, Vice President Harris will surprise a lot of Republicans.
President Joe Biden told the American people Wednesday night that he graciously decided to bow out of the 2024 election because he wanted to unite his party and focus on his job as president. It was baloney.
In the most obvious display of pure political muscle, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her disciples forced President Biden into withdrawing from the presidential race.
It was an amazing performance and has no previous example in American history.
There is a good argument that the debate with President Donald Trump proved President Biden was not capable of a nationwide campaign. From a cognitive capability standpoint, there are good reasons to hope President Biden steps down as president, too.
However, the way President Biden was forced out by party bosses has serious implications for the American system.
In some ways, Pelosi’s behavior is nothing new. She has become a sort of Democratic Party super boss. Recall, this is the Democratic leader who told members of Congress that they had to vote for the Affordable Care Act before they could read it. She was a remarkably effective Speaker of the House. Her ability to get her way with a narrow majority was astonishing.
Those years of acquiring power were brought to bear to force President Biden to give up power.
Pelosi orchestrated growing pressure on Biden to convince him he had no choice.
President Biden was clearly coerced into withdrawing as a presidential candidate. He had no realistic alternative. Pelosi was going to unveil a wave of additional House and Senate members calling on him to withdraw this week. She had made it clear that he could go easy or go hard – but he was going to go.
