Nancy Pelosi privately voiced concerns about Biden’s cognitive decline but publicly slammed WSJ report

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A new book has blown the lid off internal Democratic Party turmoil ahead of former president Joe Biden’s dramatic decision to exit the 2024 presidential race.

According to author Chris Whipple’s 'Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History', one of Biden’s most prominent allies, Rep Nancy Pelosi, harbored deep private concerns about his cognitive fitness long before publicly defending him.

Nancy Pelosi feared Joe Biden’s age was a liability for Democrats

In May 2024, when Rep Nancy Pelosi visited the White House to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she left with more than just a medal, she left with profound concern.

"He was not the same Joe Biden," Pelosi told a friend, according to the book, Fox News reported.

Whipple describes Pelosi as "startled by how much the president had aged."

What should have been a celebratory occasion was instead "awkward, even painful," as Pelosi feared the toll Biden’s condition could take on the Democratic Party’s chances in November.

"She couldn’t shake the realization that Joe Biden was a shadow of himself," Whipple wrote.

Despite these concerns, Pelosi maintained a public face of unity, until her private doubts began to collide with growing public scrutiny.

The Wall Street Journal report on Joe Biden's mental fitness

In June, the Wall Street Journal published a report titled 'Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping' featuring interviews with both Republicans and Democrats who had witnessed the former president's behavior in meetings.

The report echoed what Pelosi had privately observed, but rather than support it, she came out swinging.

"Many of us spent time with @WSJ to share on the record our first-hand experiences with @POTUS, where we see his wisdom, experience, strength and strategic thinking. Instead, the Journal ignored testimony by Democrats, focused on attacks by Republicans and printed a hit piece," Pelosi posted on X at the time.

Her office did not respond to requests for comment about the contradiction between her private concerns and her public defense.

As per Mediaite, Pelosi wasn’t alone in rejecting the claims. MSNBC’s 'Morning Joe' called it a “Trump hit piece,” while Media Matters labeled the article “comically weak.”

Then-CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy went even further, "The Wall Street Journal owes its readers- and the public- better," Darcy fumed, claiming the story simply “played into a GOP-propelled narrative.”

The Donald Trump-Joe Biden debate that changed everything

Whatever credibility critics had stripped from the Wall Street Journal was quickly returned after Joe Biden’s infamous CNN debate with President Donald Trump on June 27.

Biden appeared incoherent and confused at times, prompting immediate calls from across the political spectrum for him to withdraw.

The man Pelosi once worried was a "shadow of himself" had just confirmed it on a national stage.

Weeks later, on July 21, Biden officially dropped out of the race.

In the wake of the debate, Wall Street Journal reporter Annie Linskey, who co-authored the controversial piece with Siobhan Hughes, appeared on 'America’s Newsroom' to defend the reporting that had initially been brushed off.

"What we’ve seen in the last few days, is the reporting that we did was vindicated," Linskey told Fox News.

"The story was a very difficult story to write. We spent months working on it… we had a very high bar," she added.

Fox host Dana Perino agreed, calling it “the best kept secret in Washington.”

Joe Biden felt ‘betrayed’ by Nancy Pelosi as advisers fed him delusion

Whipple’s book also reveals that Joe Biden felt "betrayed" by Nancy Pelosi for playing a role in pushing him out of the race. The author portrays a president increasingly isolated by a circle of advisers who refused to accept reality.

"Pelosi believed Biden's advisers were misleading him, showing him rosy poll numbers. She'd never been impressed by them; in her mind, they were an old boys' club who talked only to themselves," Whipple wrote.

In an interview with Politico, Whipple offered a blunt assessment.

He said, "I happen to think that to call it a ‘cover-up’ is simplistic. I think it was stranger and way more troubling than that. Biden’s inner circle, his closest advisers, many of them were in a fog of delusion and denial. They believed what they wanted to believe."