Nancy Pelosi suggests adding Biden to Mount Rushmore: 'Such a consequential president'
This June 1995 photo shows Mt. Rushmore, in Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum started work on Mt. Rushmore 10 Aug 1927 and continued for 14 years, but only 6.5 years were actually spent sculpting due to harsh weather delays.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi mused Sunday morning that President Biden could be added to Mount Rushmore after choosing to step out of the 2024 race.
CBS journalist Lesley Stahl asked Pelosi, D-Calif., about reports claiming she led efforts to remove Biden from the presidential ticket following his disastrous debate against former President Trump.
Pelosi denied leading any charge to oust Biden and instead remarked how he was at "the top of his game" before making his decision to leave the race. She suggested the choice was worthy of Biden joining the presidents on Mount Rushmore.
"He was in a good place to make whatever decision – the top of his game," Pelosi said. "Such a consequential president of the United States, a Mount Rushmore kind of president of the United States."
Stahl asked, "Are you really saying that he belongs up there on Mount Rushmore? Lincoln and Joe Biden?"
"Well, you got Teddy Roosevelt up there, and he's wonderful," Pelosi clarified. "I don't say take him down. But you can add Biden."
Pelosi also reemphasized that she wasn’t part of any pressure to get Biden to leave the race.
Biden addresses nation after dropping out
President Joe Biden addressed the country after he dropped out of the 2024 race. In his address, he stated that he will focus on doing his job as president. He added that it has been the privilege of his life to ‘service the American people for over 50 years.’
"No, I wasn’t the leader of any pressure [campaign]," Pelosi told CBS. "Let me say things that I didn’t do: I didn’t call one person. I did not call one person. I could always say to him, ‘I never called anybody.'"
In the days leading up to Biden deciding not to run again, multiple reports emerged suggesting Pelosi pressured him to step down out of concern he would lose against Trump.
However, Pelosi continued to publicly voice her support for the president, adding it was his decision to make despite Biden insisting he would run again.
"It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run," Pelosi told MSNBC at the time. "We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. The, I think, overwhelming support of the caucus, it’s not for me to say. I’m not the head of the caucus anymore, but he’s beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision. Not me."
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.