President Joe Biden’s letter last month — which declared his intention to stay in the 2024 presidential race — “didn’t sound like” him, according to House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

In the letter, which was sent to congressional Democrats after a fumbling debate performance that stirred a crisis of confidence in his electability, Biden insisted he would not drop out to honor the will of the more than 14 million primary voters who backed him. However, Biden later did step aside as his allies kept up the pressure, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place leading the ticket.

“I didn’t accept the letter as anything but a letter,” Pelosi said during an interview with Ezra Klein on his podcast for The New York Times. “I mean, there are some people who are unhappy with the letter. Let me say it differently. Some said that some people were unhappy with the letter. I’ll put it in somebody else’s mouth. It didn’t sound like Joe Biden to me. It really didn’t.”

The letter came up as Klein asked Pelosi about her much-discussed appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that followed in which the former speaker emphasized she would support whatever decision Biden made about his political future — even though the president was insisting at the time he would not leave the race.

“I wanted to see a campaign that could win. Because I had made a decision that I stayed in Congress to defeat what’s his name, because I think he is a danger to our country,” Pelosi said, alluding to former President Donald Trump.

Pelosi suggested that she wanted to use her “Morning Joe” appearance “to say, ‘Stop saying things,'” because leaders of NATO were converging in Washington, D.C., that week.

“If you have something to say, save it for later, until they’re gone,” Pelosi added. “Because this is a big deal — the summit of NATO, which he has strengthened, grown, and now is hosting. And they’re doing great things, and he’s the center of it all. Save your comments for later.”

The New Yorker editor David Remnick noted in a recent interview with Pelosi that people around the former speaker said her “Morning Joe” appearance gave them “space” to call on Biden to step aside. Pelosi said she has “never been that impressed” with Biden’s political operation” during that conversation, just days after suggesting Biden’s face should be added to Mount Rushmore.

When Biden did announce he was exiting the race, he did so with another letter. At the time, the White House had said he had tested positive for COVID-19 and was socially distancing while recovering in Delaware. Biden, 81, addressed the public from the White House a couple days later, saying it was time for “younger voices” to lead.

CNN reported Pelosi had also told Biden in private that polls showed he could not defeat Trump and warned the president he could hurt other Democrats in down-ticket races if he did not bow out. In recent days, Pelosi said she had not spoken to Biden since he dropped out. Journalist Lesley Stahl even told Pelosi it had been said that Biden was “furious” with her, ostensibly for not having the president’s back.

In a new interview with CBS, Biden singled out Pelosi by name as he talked about why he ended his re-election bid. In explaining one of his reasons, Biden said, “a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic. You’d be interviewing me about ‘Why did Nancy Pelosi say…’ ‘Why did so-and-so…’ And I thought it’d be a real distraction.”