Joe Biden has become the first president in 56 years to call off his campaign for re-election, brought down by a disastrous performance in his late June debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump that caused a marked decline in his public support, and sparked a pressure campaign by his fellow Democrats to convince him to bow out. The president announced his decision on Twitter/X, as well as his support for Kamala Harris to take his place. The vice-president replied that “my intention is to earn and win this nomination”, while Democratic chair Jaime Harrison said “the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process” to find a new candidate.
Here are some of the of major developments in this breaking story:
Barack Obama called Biden “one of America’s most consequential presidents”, but did not endorse Harris and seemed to indicate he wanted an open nomination process at the Democratic national convention next month, in Chicago.
Hillary and Bill Clinton quickly threw their support behind Harris.
Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was a major figure in pressuring Biden to end his re-election bid, and spoke glowingly of him after he left the race.
Donald Trump heaped scorn on Biden, saying he “was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve”.
Top Republicans in Congress, including speaker Mike Johnson and other senior House lawmakers, called on Biden to resign immediately. Notably, Mitch McConnell, the GOP’s Senate minority leader, did not.
Axios reports that Kamala Harris is currently working the phones to consolidate Democrats around her candidacy for president – and that Barack Obama will not make an endorsement until the party does.
With Biden out of the race, the nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates to the party convention next month in Chicago will take on renewed prominence, as they will determine who the party selects as his replacement. And while kingmakers like Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton could play a role in swaying them, Axios heard from a personal familiar with Obama’s thinking, who said he was not planning to sidestep the party’s process:
Just like he did in 2020 once Joe Biden earned the nomination, President Obama believes he will be uniquely positioned to help unite the party once we have a nominee, lift up that candidate, and do everything he can to get that candidate elected in November.
Joe Biden announced he would bow out of the presidential race with a post on Twitter/X at 1.46pm ET, then endorsed Kamala Harris less than 30 minutes later.
In the time since, we haven’t heard a peep from the president. He has no public events scheduled today, and the last communication from the pool reporter accompanying him in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where Biden is recovering from Covid-19, was at 1pm, and was just to point to a statement from his doctor about his condition.
That leaves the three posts Biden made on his X account as his sole public statements regarding his decision to quit his campaign – the letter announcing the decision is not on the White House website, nor on his campaign’s.
It is worth pointing out that, back in 1968, most Americans learned that Democratic president Lyndon B Johnson was ending his re-election campaign when he spoke on TV. Here’s CSPAN with a look back at that moment:
However, in his letter announcing his exit, Biden said: “I will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision.” So, Biden will likely make a speech, just not today.
A few hours after Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid, his campaign fund was renamed “Harris for President”, a filing with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) shows.
Another document filed by the previous Biden for President campaign to the FEC notes that Harris is “no longer a candidate” for vice-president and is instead a candidate for president and “will henceforth be conducting campaign activities only in pursuit of that office”.
The move gives Harris, already the frontrunner for the presidency among Democrats, access to the Biden campaign coffers. A campaign filing yesterday showed the campaign has nearly $96m in cash on hand.
Indivisible, one of the largest progressive US organizations, praised Joe Biden for his decision and said the group would back Kamala Harris.
“This was a once-in-a-generation act of statesmanship. President Biden did what he thought was right for his country, and he did it with trademark decency, honesty, and a humbling dedication to public service,” the organization said in a statement.
“In this moment, we’re filled with gratitude for our President for his sacrifice, and for our Vice President as she prepares to pick up the torch.”
Indivisible said it asked its local leaders on Saturday whether they would support Harris if Biden dropped out. An “incredible” 95.6% of the local chapters’ leaders said “yes”.
“Vice President Kamala Harris is meeting the moment with all the tenacity and clarity of purpose that we need from our standard bearer,” Indivisible said.
“Indivisible is fully behind her candidacy. We’re ready to fight alongside her for every single vote.”
The organization’s comments in support of Harris come as Democrats are swiftly rallying behind the vice-president, who said that she will seek the presidential nomination. Democrats’ seeming unity around Harris’s potential nomination marks a sharp contrast from the past several weeks, during which the party was afflicted by infighting over whether Biden should step down.
British prime minister Keir Starmer noted his “respect” for Joe Biden’s decision to exit the presidential race, in a brief post on Twitter/X:
Joe Biden has become the first president in 56 years to call off his campaign for re-election, brought down by a disastrous performance in his late June debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump that caused a marked decline in his public support, and sparked a pressure campaign by his fellow Democrats to convince him to bow out. The president announced his decision on Twitter/X, as well as his support for Kamala Harris to take his place. The vice-president replied that “my intention is to earn and win this nomination”, while Democratic chair Jaime Harrison said “the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process” to find a new candidate.
Here are some of the of major developments in this breaking story:
Barack Obama called Biden “one of America’s most consequential presidents”, but did not endorse Harris and seemed to indicate he wanted an open nomination process at the Democratic national convention next month, in Chicago.
Hillary and Bill Clinton quickly threw their support behind Harris.
Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi was a major figure in pressuring Biden to end his re-election bid, and spoke glowingly of him after he left the race.
Donald Trump heaped scorn on Biden, saying he “was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve”.
Top Republicans in Congress, including speaker Mike Johnson and other senior House lawmakers, called on Biden to resign immediately. Notably, Mitch McConnell, the GOP’s Senate minority leader, did not.
Democratic social media accounts have begun circulating one of Kamala Harris’s advertisements from her failed 2020 run for president as a sign of what she might soon deploy against Donald Trump:
Jim Clyburn is one of the House Democrats closest to Joe Biden, having played a big role in getting him the party’s nomination in 2020, and publicly defending him following his fumbling debate performance in June.
In a new statement, Clyburn threw his support behind Kamala Harris to succeed Biden:
Politicians across the world have voiced support for Joe Biden following his announcement that he will suspend his presidential campaign.
Simon Harris, Taoiseach of Ireland, was among the foreign leaders reacting to Biden’s decision with praise.
“President Biden has been a voice for reason, effective multilateralism and shared solutions,” Harris said in a statement. He said that Biden and the US saw “early on” that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “an attack on international law and democratic freedom” and that the aggressor would not stop with its neighbor.
Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, said that he wanted to extend his “heartfelt thanks” to Biden for “his friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people over his decades-long career” and noted that he was the first US president to visit the country in wartime.
“He is a symbol of the unbreakable bond between our two peoples,” Herzog said.
Kamala Harris is far from the only Democrat with aspirations of making it to the White House.
Indeed, the party has what some would call a bench stacked with talent, such as California governor Gavin Newsom, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, and several others.
But none are as prominent as Harris, who also has the president’s endorsement, and CBS News reports that both Whitmer and Newsom do not plan to challenge her for the party’s nomination:
Anti-war voters who aligned behind an “uncommitted” movement to protest Biden’s stance on the Gaza war want to see Kamala Harris “take a clear stance” against US weapons being sent to Israel.
The uncommitted movement won 29 delegates to the Democratic convention and plans to use these delegates to push an anti-war message, though with Biden out, all his delegates become uncommitted as well. After Biden’s debate performance, some looked to see how the uncommitted movement could pick up more influence in the convention, though leaders said they would remain focused solely on the anti-war message.
If Harris ends up the Democratic nominee, leaders of the national uncommitted movement say she needs to stand against any funding of Israel in the war.
“It’s time to align our actions with our values,” uncommitted national leader Layla Elabed said in a statement. “Vice-President Harris can start the process to earn back trust by turning the page from Biden’s horrific policies in Gaza.”
Kamala Harris says she will seek the Democratic presidential nomination after Joe Biden endorsed her as his successor following his decision to suspend his re-election campaign.
From a just-released statement:
I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation – to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.
We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.
In a statement, Barack Obama, under whom Joe Biden served as vice-president, praised his decision to exit the presidential race, without endorsing his successor.
“Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order,” Obama said.
The former president was reportedly among those who did not believe Biden could win a second term in office following his botched first debate against Donald Trump. While Obama does not comment on that in his statement, he does talk at length about Biden’s decision to suspend his campaign:
This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.
I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.
Finally, Obama hints that he would like there to be an open nomination process at the Democratic convention scheduled to be held in Chicago in August:
We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.
In the two hours since Joe Biden suspended his re-election campaign, Democratic senators have been particularly quick to endorse Kamala Harris as his successor.
Here’s Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, a progressive who squared off against both Biden and Harris in the primaries leading up to the 2020 election:
And Virginia’s Mark Warner:
President Biden has made historic contributions to our nation. His love of country and loyalty to the American people has been unwavering. He will undoubtedly go down in the history books as a true American patriot.
After all he’s done, I respect President Biden’s difficult decision to step aside in this upcoming election, and I look forward to hearing more from him later this week.
While there has to be an orderly process and the decision ultimately rests in the hands of the DNC delegates, I believe Vice President Harris has the experience, energy, and resolve to lead our nation.
This November, we must defeat Donald Trump and his backwards agenda.
As well as Tammy Baldwin, who represents swing state Wisconsin, and is a top target of Republicans in November:
Today I’m proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. I look forward to her candidacy as a new beginning for our party and our country and I am excited to work with her to lower costs for Wisconsin families, grow our Made in America economy, and restore our fundamental rights and freedoms.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
