Matt Frei of Channel 4 News was interviewing Nancy Pelosi with his usual artistry and charm. You need plenty of both when tackling the Democratic titan and first woman speaker of the US House of Representatives.
Mention was made of a conversation between Pelosi and vice-president Kamala Harris, who next week seals the deal to be the Democratic nominee at the party’s convention in Chicago.
“Did she say thank you?” asked Frei of Harris.
Pelosi smiled as she once again brushed away the notion that she succeeded in getting Joe Biden to quit when everyone else had failed, thus paving the way for Harris.
“I have loved him for decades,” said Pelosi of the incumbent.
Biden and Pelosi have been pals for more than 50 years. Now their famed friendship has been replaced by an epic falling out over his retirement.
Biden’s long exit, playing out in public view, often cruelly, is a prime example of how not to retire well. Ask Ken Bruce. Like Pelosi, the Scottish broadcaster has been doing the rounds with a book to flog (him: PopMaster; her: The Art of Power).
Asked if he planned to retire, Bruce, 73, joked: “Not willingly. I don’t want to get to a Joe Biden stage. If I feel I’m not doing a job to my own satisfaction then I probably will retire. At the moment I feel quite happy, but I’m aware of not going on too long. If I start to feel that people have had enough of me, then I’ll go.”
With four million listeners to his show on Greatest Hits Radio, Bruce is a long way from that point. As is Tom Cruise, 62, who abseiled into the Olympics closing ceremony last Sunday, collected the flag, and took off on a motorcycle. Good luck telling Cruise to take things easier.
