Nancy Pelosi reveals the 'goal in life' that inspired her to knife Biden, the aides she was 'never impressed' with ... and why she cries over Joe dropping out of the race

Nancy Pelosi revealed the 'goal in life' that was behind her push for Joe Biden to exit the presidential race and why she now cries over her decision.

The Speaker Emerita, in a series of interviews to promote her memoir, 'The Art of Power,' addressed her relationship with the current president and her thoughts on the former one, Donald Trump.

It was her concern that Trump would win in November that led to her urging Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee, she's said.

'My goal in life was that that man would never set foot in the White House again,' she said of Trump, pounding the table nine times for emphasis, the Washington Post reported. 

But when she was asked whether she ever directly told Biden that he needed to step aside or else Trump would win, she flat out refused to say.

'I won't answer that question,' she said.

When Trump was president and Pelosi was speaker the two had a bitter, antagonistic relationship. She impeached him twice. He called her 'Crazy Nancy' and 'unhinged.' 

Pelosi noted that she couldn't stand to see 'an unfolding of events that were just putting rose petals in front of him' to go back to the White House.

And part of Pelosi's fears were based on the fact she was unimpressed with Biden's campaign team and political advisers, as she told the New Yorker's David Remnick.

'I've never been that impressed with his political operation,' she said. 'They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was: this ain't happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The President has to make the decision for that to happen.'

Democrats say it was Pelosi who was one of the guiding forces behind the pressure campaign on Biden. 

The former speaker, in her book tour interviews, has not divulged the full role she played. 

She has said that she 'never made one call' to knife Biden but instead received multiple calls from worried Democrats who feared that, with Biden on the top of the ticket, the party would lose both the House and Senate.

She noted she hasn't spoken with Biden since he left the race. 

Remnick asked her if she thought her relationship with him - which goes back decades - would survive.

'I hope so,' she said. 'I pray so. I cry so.'

'I lose sleep on it,' she added.

Pelosi stepped down from her leadership perch with House Democrats about a year ago but her influence within the party is stronger than ever. 

She never publicly called on Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee after his disastrous debate performance with Trump - but she gave plenty of hints as to her thoughts.

Her biggest pressure move came during an interview with MSNBC's Morning Joe, when she answered a question about Biden as if he had never said - repeatedly - that he had no intention of dropping out. 

'It's up to the President to decide if he's going to run,' she noted. 'We're all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short.'

Morning Joe is President Biden's favorite morning show and he's a regular viewer. 

Pelosi claims she never planned her remarks. 

'I didn't plan to do that on ['Morning Joe.'] In fact, if I did, I probably would've worn a different suit or something, because I didn't look too professional.'

She also said she told Biden not to debate Trump.

'I just thought it'd be like doggy-doo and you're going to get it on your shoe and you're all going to smell like him,' she said.

'I want to go onstage. I can handle this,' Biden told her, according to Pelosi's account.

She said that Biden 'wanted to do it, he felt confident,' she said. 

In her interviews, Pelosi also  revealed she felt guilty about the 2022 attack on her husband Paul at their San Francisco home. 

She also said the couple has never discussed it and that Paul Pelosi is still in recovery from the ordeal.

She said that her husband is 'about eighty per cent' recovered, but the blow to his skull still has 'ramifications' and requires continued therapy and time to heal.

'It's a horrible thing,' Pelosi said. 'The physical damage is one thing. There's also the trauma of it all for our children, our grandchildren. It's really sad. It happened in our home. In our home.' 

She said it was still 'creepy' to be in the bedroom or the garden room 'where he banged his way in.' 

'We wouldn't go there for a long, long time,' she said. 

Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer during a break-in in 2022 at the couple's San Francisco home. A federal grand jury found David DePape guilty of attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official.

DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison. 

Paul Pelosi testified during the trial that he was awakened by 'a very large man' with a hammer and zip ties on the day of the break in who asked 'Where's Nancy?'

When he told his attacker that his wife was in Washington, D.C., DePape allegedly said he'd have to tie him up and they'd wait for her return. Paul Pelosi sustained a fractured skull in the attack.

Nancy Pelosi's book 'The Art of Power' is out now. 

Asked if her book title was an intended nod at Trump's 'The Art of the Deal,' she told the Associated Press: 'Nothing that I do has anything to do with him, except his downfall.'