Pelosi says time short for Biden decision on 2024 bid

Democratic Party heavyweight Nancy Pelosi said that time is running out for US President Joe Biden to make a final decision on his reelection bid. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Updated 10 July 2024
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Pelosi says time short for Biden decision on 2024 bid

  • Despite Biden insisting he is staying in the race, Pelosi suggested the president still could step aside amid a Democratic divide over his candidacy

WASHINGTON: Democratic Party heavyweight Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that time is running out for US President Joe Biden to make a final decision on his reelection bid, but stressed the call was his to make.
Despite Biden insisting he is staying in the race, Pelosi — the former speaker of the House of Representatives and an influential voice in the party — suggested the president still could step aside amid a Democratic divide over his candidacy.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she told MSNBC.
“We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because the time is running short.”
Pelosi stopped short of advocating either way on the Biden question.
“I want him to do whatever he decides to do, and that’s the way it is,” she said. “Whatever he decides, we go with.”
Biden, 81, has corralled much-needed support from some top Democrats, but several lawmakers in the party have publicly expressed concerns about his mental fitness after his disastrous debate performance last month against White House challenger Donald Trump.
Seven House Democrats have openly called on Biden to not seek reelection. A handful of senators have also expressed concerns.
Late Tuesday, Colorado’s Michael Bennet became the first Senate Democrat to publicly turn on the president, saying Biden would lose if he stayed on the ballot — and perhaps cause congressional Democrats to lose as well.
“Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide and take with it the Senate and the House,” Bennet told CNN, adding he believes the White House “has done nothing” to demonstrate they have a plan to win in November.


US ambassador accuses Poland parliament speaker of insulting Trump

Updated 05 February 2026
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US ambassador accuses Poland parliament speaker of insulting Trump

  • Tom Rose said the decision was made because of speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty’s “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against the US leader
  • “We will not permit anyone to harm US-Polish relations, nor disrespect (Trump),” Rose wrote on X

WARSAW: The United States embassy will have “no further dealings” with the speaker of the Polish parliament after claims he insulted President Donald Trump, its ambassador said on Thursday.
Tom Rose said the decision was made because of speaker Wlodzimierz Czarzasty’s “outrageous and unprovoked insults” against the US leader.
“We will not permit anyone to harm US-Polish relations, nor disrespect (Trump), who has done so much for Poland and the Polish people,” Rose wrote on X.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk responded the same day, writing on X: “Ambassador Rose, allies should respect, not lecture each other.”
“At least this is how we, here in Poland, understand partnership.”


On Monday, Czarzasty criticized a joint US-Israeli proposal to support Donald Trump’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I will not support the motion for a Nobel Peace Prize for President Trump, because he doesn’t deserve it,” he told journalists.
Czarzasty said that rather than allying itself more closely with Trump’s White House, Poland should “strengthen existing alliances” such as NATO, the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
He criticized Trump’s leadership, including the imposition of tariffs on European countries, threats to annex Greenland, and, most recently, his claims that NATO allies had stayed “a little off the front lines” during the war in Afghanistan.
He accused Trump of “a breach of the politics of principles and values, often a breach of international law.”
After Rose’s reaction, Czarzasty told local news site Onet: “I maintain my position” on the issue of the peace prize.
“I consistently respect the USA as Poland’s key partner,” he added later on X.
“That is why I regretfully accept the statement by Ambassador Tom Rose, but I will not change my position on these fundamental issues for Polish women and men.”
The speaker heads Poland’s New Left party, which is part of Tusk’s pro-European governing coalition, with which the US ambassador said he has “excellent relations.”
It is currently governing under conservative-nationalist President Karol Nawrocki, a vocal Trump supporter.
In late January, Czarzasty, along with several other high-ranking Polish politicians, denounced Trump’s claim that the United States “never needed” NATO allies.
The parliamentary leader called the claims “scandalous” and said they should be “absolutely condemned.”
Forty-three Polish soldiers and one civil servant died as part of the US-led NATO coalition in Afghanistan.