US President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” he said in a statement.
Here are the big UPDATES in this developing story:
Joe Biden is “one of the most consequential Presidents in American history,” former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday, after the US leader announced he was dropping out of the White House race.
Biden is “a patriotic American who has always put our country first. His legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history,” Pelosi said in a statement, expressing her “love and gratitude” to him.
Time to have an open convention and get a more moderate candidate who can easily beat @realDonaldTrump. @GovWhitmer and @GovernorShapiro would be a great thing for America not held hostage between MAGA extremists and DEI extremism. Unique opportunity for a better moderate path….
– Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) July 21, 2024
The Kremlin said Sunday it was monitoring developments after US President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 US election race, adding that a “lot can change” in the meantime.
“The election is still four months away. And it’s a long time, during which a lot can change. We need to pay attention, follow what will happen and go about our business,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Life.ru news outlet.
Kamala Harris
She seems like the obvious choice, and Biden has given her his endorsement. US Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been a heartbeat away from the Oval Office since Biden’s January 2021 swearing in, is well positioned to be the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer. The 59-year-old Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, is a trailblazer.
Gavin Newsom
There is no rule that a running mate automatically replaces the presidential candidate in the case of a withdrawal. This is why California Governor Gavin Newsom’s name keeps popping up. The 56-year-old Democrat, a former mayor of San Francisco, has been at the helm of the Golden State — the most populous in the United States — for five years, and has made it a haven for abortion access.
Gretchen Whitmer
Another possible Democratic candidate is Gretchen Whitmer, the 52-year-old governor of Michigan. Her state has both a strong working-class population and major Black and Arab American communities — all key groups of voters that Biden struggled to court. Whitmer, a fierce critic of Trump, is perhaps best known for being the intended target of a kidnapping plot devised by a far-right militia group.
The Clintons have rallied behind Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump in the November election. Biden too has endorsed Harris to challenge Trump.
Statement from President Clinton and Secretary Clinton pic.twitter.com/R7tYMFWbsu
– Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 21, 2024
“Biden Must Resign As President Immediately”: House Speaker
Joe Biden must resign as president “immediately,” the top Republican in Congress said Sunday, after the US president announced he was abandoning his bid to retake the White House amid intense pressure over his age. “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson in a statement.
Joe Biden was “not fit to run” and “is certainly not fit to serve” as president, his Republican rival Donald Trump said Sunday, after the US leader said he was dropping out of the White House race.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve — And never was! … We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump posted on his Truth Social network shortly after Biden’s announcement.
Joe Biden is a “true patriot,” top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Sunday, after the president announced he was standing aside and abandoning his bid to retake the White House.
“Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader but he’s a truly amazing human being. His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first. Joe, today shows you are a true patriot and great American,” Schumer posted on X.
For years Kamala Harris faced criticism that she was not up to the job of being a heartbeat away from the presidency. Now, she finds herself feted by Democrats as their best hope to stop Donald Trump’s comeback. Despite blazing a trail as the first woman, Black and South Asian vice president in US history, the 59-year-old Democrat long struggled with approval ratings as bad or worse than President Joe Biden’s. The last 12 months, however, have revealed a transformed Harris.
And with Biden’s endorsement of Harris after stunning the world by dropping his own reelection bid Sunday, she’s suddenly on the cusp of history.
Joe Biden’s withdrawal upends what was already a White House race for the ages, but it will rattle Donald Trump, too — forcing him to recalibrate a campaign that was focused almost entirely on his former opponent. For months Trump and his allies have been playing on concerns that the 81-year-old Biden may no longer be fit for office, gleefully sharing video clips of every stammer, rhetorical gaffe and red carpet stumble.
But with the Democrat no longer in the race, the Trump operation finds itself pushed into a strategic pivot, forced now to shift its messaging to fit a contest with no incumbent and a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent, although Biden did endorse Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday as he pulled out of the race.
Biden said he would “speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision.” The Democratic Party is now plunged into chaos and needs to find a new candidate by November’s election, with Vice President Kamala Harris the frontrunner. Biden bowed out after weeks of pressure that began with a disastrous debate performance that raised fears over his health.
The stunning move makes Biden the first president in US history to pull out so late in an election race, and the first to bow out because of concerns over his mental acuity and health. Biden spent more than three weeks resisting calls to step down following the shock of the June 27 debate, at one point insisting that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to back out.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told CNN on Sunday that he thinks Vice President Kamala Harris will be easier to defeat in November’s election than Democratic President Joe Biden who stepped aside as his party’s candidate. A CNN reporter said on X that Trump made the comments to the network shortly after Biden announced his decision.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
– Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
Biden Pulls Out Of US presidential Race. What’s Next For Democrats
Vice President Kamala Harris is seen by many as a logical replacement, but several Democrats favor an approach that would allow her, and a short list of rising party stars, to make their case.
