Biden drops out of 2024 race, endorses Harris as his replacement

Washington, July 22, (dpa/GNA) – US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday, that he is withdrawing from the race to be the next president, in a historic decision that throws the Democratic Party into uncharted territory, as Republican rival Donald Trump’s campaign gains steam.

Biden said Vice President Kamala Harris had his “full support” to replace him on the ballot in November’s election. He also said that he will finish out the remainder of his term, which ends on January 20, 2025.

However, with the party’s presumptive nominee now gone and just over 100 days to go, the clock is ticking for Democrats to begin the fraught process of replacing him, and launching a viable campaign to take on Trump.

Hours after Biden’s bombshell withdrawal, Harris issued a statement in which she promised to do “everything in my power” to defeat Trump.

“I am honored to have the president’s endorsement and my intention, is to earn and win this nomination,” she said.

It was not immediately clear if other candidates would scramble to put themselves forward, to be officially anointed Biden’s replacement at the national party convention next month in Chicago.

Former Democratic president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, jointly said they would like to have Harris run.

The Congressional Black Caucus, a key group of Biden allies in Congress, also threw their support to Harris.

Former president Barack Obama described Biden as “patriot of the highest order”, but did not say who should replace him.

“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 solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter.

Biden’s decision sent shockwaves across the country – and globe – and came after massive pressure from within his own party not to put himself forward as the official nominee.

A television debate performance against Trump at the end of June, during which 81-year-old Biden struggled several times to give coherent answers or challenge falsehoods uttered by Trump, prompted nationwide concern about whether he was still mentally fit for office.

The issue of Biden’s age has since dominated the US election campaign, overshadowed a NATO summit, and been used repeatedly by Trump, 78, to attack his opponent as old and feeble.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!” wrote former president Trump on his online platform Truth Social in response to Biden’s announcement.

Until now, Biden had insisted that he would run as the Democratic candidate in the November 5 election, and that he was fit for office, at one point saying that “only the Almighty” could make him drop out of the race.

But there have a been series of high-profile defections, including Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia on Sunday, and influential figures voicing scepticism about the viability of Biden’s path to re-election, including the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Opinion polls at both the national level and in the key battleground states that will determine this year’s winner of the presidency have shown Trump pulling ahead by considerable margins.

The attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, reinforced a sense of unity among Republicans, with the party’s fervour for their candidate on full display at last week’s national convention in Milwaukee.

In endorsing Harris, Biden wrote: “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 decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats, it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Harris, 59, is the first female vice president in US history, as well as the first black woman and person of South Asian descent.

Prior to becoming Biden’s deputy, she was a senator from California and the state’s attorney general.

As anxious Democrats looked ahead to the election, they also recalled Biden’s long service to his country. He was first elected to Congress in 1973.

The top Democrat in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he had “not only been a great president and a great legislative leader, but he’s a truly amazing human being.”

“His legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history,” Pelosi wrote.

The Clintons said in a joint statement: “We join millions of Americans in thanking President Biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for America time and again, with his North Star always being what’s best for the country.”
GNA