Biden says pressure from Nancy Pelosi led him to drop out of race

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Joe Biden has said that he dropped out of the presidential race because of pressure from Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats in Congress.
The US President, who endorsed Kamala Harris as his successor last month, insisted that his contest with Donald Trump was “neck and neck” but said disquiet from his own party was becoming a “distraction”.
“What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and the Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races,” he told CBS News on Sunday.
“I was concerned that if I stayed in the race that would be the topic you’d be interviewing me about – why did Nancy Pelosi say… And I thought it would be a real distraction.”
Ms Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, is reported to have privately urged Mr Biden to drop out of the race and presented him with polling showing he could not beat Trump.
She told The New York Times on Thursday that she had “never been that impressed” with the Biden campaign and suggested she feared he would not win the presidential election.
Several of those who had told the US President to make way for a younger successor were allied to Ms Pelosi.
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Frank Luntz, the pollster and commentator, noted that Joe Biden has done more interviews than Kamala Harris since she replaced him as the Democrat presidential candidate.
Ms Harris has come under fire for avoiding media scrutiny and has not done a single sit-down interview since joining the race.
Fielding questions from reporters on Thursday, she said she intended to have an extended interview before the end of the month.
Joe Biden has done more media interviews than Kamala Harris since she replaced him on the Democratic ticket 3 weeks ago. https://t.co/fLQE3LPPKg
Joe Biden says he will be campaigning across Pennsylvania, his “original home state”, to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
Mr Biden, who was born in Scranton, wrested the battleground state from Trump by a thin margin at the last election, but some have raised concerns about Ms Harris’ ability to keep hold of it.
“I was talking to [Pennsylvania[ Governor [Josh] Shapiro who’s a friend. We have to win Pennsylvania, my original home state.
“He and I are putting together a campaign tour in Pennsylvania, I’m going to be campaigning in other states as well. And I’m going to be doing whatever Kamala thinks I can do to help most.”
Joe Biden says he will be joining Kamala Harris on the campaign trail and praises her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as a “great guy.”
Mr Biden continued: “We grew up in the same neighbourhood… he’s real, he’s smart, it’s a hell of a team.”
The US President is expected to join Ms Harris, the vice president, at a campaign event on Thursday in Maryland to  “discuss the progress they are making to lower costs” for Americans.
Joe Biden says that, after dropping out of the race, his children and grandchildren “said they were proud, and it mattered to me a lot.”
Joe Biden says he dropped out of the presidential race because he had an “obligation” to the country to ensure Donald Trump was defeated.
“The polls we had showed it was a neck and neck race, it would have been done to the wire,” he told CBS News.
“But what happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and the Senate thought that I was going to hurt them in the races.
“And I was concerned that if I stayed in the race that would be the topic you’d be interviewing me about – why did Nancy Pelosi say… And I thought it would be a real distraction.”
He also said that he had intended to be a “transition president” but “things got moving for me so quickly.”
“A critical issue for me still, not a joke, maintaining this democracy… Although it’s a great honour being president I think I have an obligation to the country to the most important thing I can do, and that is, we must defeat Trump.”
Joe Biden attacks Donald Trump as a “genuine danger to American security” if he wins the election in November.
He says the Supreme Court, which he recently proposed reforming by introducing term limits and a code of ethics, is “so out of whack”.
Asked how he wants to be remembered, Joe Biden says: “He proved democracy can work. It got us out of a pandemic. It produced the single greatest economic recovery in American history.”
Joe Biden says he is working “every single day” in an interview with CBS, following criticism of his light schedule, George Styllis writes.
The president said he was trying to stay busy after exiting the presidential race and that he had directed his attention to the Middle East “to see that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war”.
Mr Biden was recently photographed lounging on a beach with his family.
Some Democrats have suggested his withdrawal from public view may stem from a feeling of being unwanted.
My Biden commented on his work schedule in an interview with CBS, his public appearance since quitting the presidential run.
Joe Biden’s interview is live now. Asked if there will be a peaceful transfer of power after the next election, he says: “If Trump [loses], no I’m not confident at all.
“He means what he says – we don’t take him seriously.”
The interview with the President has been pre-recorded at the White House.
The programme will air on Sunday on CBS News at 2pm UK time, (9am EST). 
Mr Biden has been interviewed by American political reporter Robert Costa.
It will be broadcast on CBS News Sunday Morning and will last an hour and a half.
Viewers can also stream the interview on Paramount+.
Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
We’ll be bringing you the latest from Joe Biden’s first interview since he quit the 2024 presidential race as it airs today.