With only a few months until elections, President Joe Biden has called off his reelection campaign, igniting a political frenzy about who should take his place.
Biden stated in a letter on Sunday, “Serving as your president has been the greatest honor of my life.” “Although I have always intended to run for reelection, I feel that it would be better for my party and the nation if I stepped aside and spent the balance of my term concentrating only on my obligations as president.”
Biden hinted in the letter that he would speak to the country “later this week,” but he chose not to support Kamala Harris, the vice president.
He stated, “For the time being, let me convey my sincere appreciation to everyone who has fought so hard to see me reelected.” “I would want to express my gratitude to Vice President Kamala Harris for her exceptional collaboration on this project.”
Shortly after, Biden gave the exact same endorsement in a different post on X, emphasizing that Harris had his “full support” to “be the nominee of our party this year.”
“As the 2020 party nominee, Kamala Harris was my first choice for vice president,” he tweeted. It’s the wisest choice I’ve ever made. It’s time for Democrats to unite and defeat Trump. Now let’s get started.
The president is recuperating from COVID-19, as declared from Delaware. Biden made his choice during his first debate with his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, in which he seemed to become disoriented and occasionally stood with his mouth open. In an attempt to turn the tide in a race where the president is trailing his predecessor in crucial battleground states, the Biden team lobbied for the debate.
On Truth Social Sunday, Trump stated that “Crooked Joe Biden was not qualified to run for president and is surely not fit to serve—and never was.” “His presidency will cause us much suffering, but we will quickly undo the harm he has done.” “Make America Great Again!”
Republicans also began pressuring Biden to step down as president right away, starting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik.
On X, Johnson stated, “Joseph Biden is not qualified to serve as president if he is not fit to run for president.” “November 5th cannot come quickly enough.”
The political dam broke earlier this month when Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first elected congressional Democrat to urge Biden to resign from his position as the party’s presumed contender for 2024.
“It is not a lightly made choice, and it does not lessen my admiration for all that President Biden has accomplished,” Doggett said in a release. “Aware that, in contrast to Trump, President Biden has always put our nation before himself, I hope he will make the tough and painful choice to step down. I kindly request that he do so.
Then, two House Democrats running strong reelection campaigns this November, Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), adopted a different tack and emphasized that Biden was about to lose to Trump.
Gluesenkamp Perez stated to KATU, “We all saw what we saw; you can’t change that, and I think Biden is going to lose to Trump.” “I understand that’s challenging, but I believe that argument has done more harm than good.”
Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), met with Biden in the weeks that followed to talk about his candidacy and how it may impact the party as a whole, as well as the elections farther down the ballot. This is true even though several Democrats have pleaded for Biden to demonstrate his worth at more spontaneous events, such as news conferences held in conjunction with the 75th NATO summit and interviews with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and NBC’s Lester Holt. But at the same time, a tense discussion over national security with Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) revealed that tensions with Democrats persisted, particularly with funders.
“It’s not breaking through to our voters, Mr. President,” said Crow.
“You should discuss it!” Biden answered. Nobody has ever been a better president than me in terms of national security. Give me the name. Give me a name! Thus, I’d rather not hear that nonsense!
Unlike former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) both expressed gratitude to Biden for his public service but did not support Harris.
Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) joined the chorus of 37 Democrats who have called on the president to resign as their party’s nominee since the debate, Trump’s attempted assassination, and Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
Organizing by rank Democrats has taken issue with both the Biden campaign and the DNC’s response to the president’s debate, accusing the leaders of both parties of trivializing and even making fun of their concerns.
“Even if it is unprecedented, the task that we must undertake today is obvious,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison stated on Sunday. “In the coming days, the party will embark on an open and systematic process to advance as a unified Democratic Party with a candidate who can beat Donald Trump in November.” The party’s set policies and procedures will control this process. Our delegates are ready to accept with all due seriousness the duty of presenting a candidate to the American people as soon as possible.
During a fundraiser in Virginia last month, the president blamed Biden’s poor debate performance on his journey to Europe for the Group of 7 Leaders meeting and the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Initially, aides claimed that Biden’s poor debate performance was due to a cold. The president trained at Camp David during the week before the debate.
Just before the debate, Biden told donors, “I chose to fly across the world a couple of times.” “I nearly passed out on stage because I disregarded my staff’s advice.” “It’s an explanation, not an excuse,” he declared.
Next month, the DNC will start in Chicago, where the party’s nominee will be selected. However, this year, a virtual roll call will be held in advance to allow the standard-bearer to be included in the ticket in Ohio due to a deadline issue with Buckeye State’s ballot access laws that have since been resolved.
