After a rising chorus within his own party urged U.S. President Joe Biden to “pass the torch,” he did just that on Sunday, immediately becoming a single-term president and a lame-duck leader.
Biden announced on social media that he was ending his 2024 reelection bid against former President Donald Trump, the Republican party’s nominee for a third consecutive election. Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election.
Biden made the announcement as he was recovering from a third bout with COVID-19 at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, vacation home near the Atlantic Ocean.
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A half-hour after his initial surprise announcement, Biden endorsed his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic presidential nominee to run against Trump in the November 5th election. If Harris is accepted by the party to replace Biden, she would be the first Black woman and South Asian major party presidential nominee in the 248-year history of the United States.
Biden has seen his national polling numbers decline since a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June. During the event, the president often appeared to lose his train of thought, failed to forcefully press his case against Trump or defend his own 3½-year tenure in the White House.
That prompted a number of Democrats to suggest the 81-year-old Biden would likely lose to 78-year-old Trump.
Biden persevered, insisting he would not quit the race unless “the Lord Almighty” asked him to or if he was shown in polling numbers that he could not beat Trump a second time or advised by his doctors he was not physically able to continue.
“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 reminder of my term,” he said in a statement Sunday. His term ends in January.
The statement was issued one minute after the president’s senior staff were notified, according to The Associated Press.
Biden said Harris has been an “extraordinary partner” and has his “full support and endorsement” to be “the nominee of our party this year.” Biden said he would speak to the country later in the week about his decision.
The president, according to the White House, spoke Sunday “to a number of Members of Congress, governors, and supporters, and will continue to engage with key stakeholders tonight and tomorrow.”
Harris, who is 59, quickly announced that she would seek the nomination. She was a senator from the country’s most populous state, California, when Biden picked her in 2020 as his vice presidential running mate after Harris’ challenge to Biden and other primary contenders fell apart.
Her approval ratings in national surveys have largely reflected the president's, but some surveys of likely voters show Harris faring slightly better than Biden against Trump and, in a few, she has polled ahead of Trump.
Harris said in a statement that Biden, by withdrawing from the race against Trump, “is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.”
“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party – and unite our nation – to defeat Donald Trump,” she said. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
All of that prompted a groundswell of Democratic lawmakers, governors and at least one Biden Cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, to endorse Harris, following unanimous praise among top party figures for Biden’s decision to withdraw.
Media reports said all 50 Democratic Party state chairs have also thrown their weight behind Harris. There was a Sunday surge of big money and grassroots donations for Harris, according to CNBC. Some top fundraisers for Biden had gone to the sidelines following the debate.
Trump showed the Democrats no mercy following Sunday’s announcement, assailing both the president and the vice president.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!” Trump posted on social media, adding that Harris was just as bad as Biden.
"Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been," Trump told CNN
Many Republicans reacted by calling for Biden to resign as president.
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who is second in the presidential line of succession behind Harris, called on Biden to step down, claiming if he is unfit to keep his candidacy alive for another four-year term, he is also unfit to remain as president until January 20.
If Biden were to resign, Harris would immediately be sworn in as the country’s 47th president, at least until the inauguration for the victor in November’s election.
Names of other prominent Democrats have been floated as potential candidates other than Harris, including several state governors: Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gavin Newsom of California. Shapiro and Newsom endorsed Harris on Sunday.
Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, who served as secretary of State under President Barack Obama, also endorsed Harris in a statement. Obama, whom Biden served with as vice president for eight years, thanked Biden for his patriotism, but did not indicate whether he was supporting Harris or any other potential contender.
Media reports in the hours following Biden’s withdrawal quoted sources close to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, now an independent, saying he was considering rejoining the Democratic Party to try to replace the president at the top of the party’s ticket.
There are two ways for Democrats to replace Biden as the party’s standard-bearer.
One would be a virtual vote among delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago that would lock in a new nominee in early August. Chances are this process would favor Harris, avoiding conflict at the convention in front of a national television audience.
The other way Democrats could pick a new nominee would be an “open” convention in which several candidates, including Harris, would seek the presidential nomination, a scenario the party hasn’t experienced since 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson dropped his plans to run for reelection in face of widespread opposition to his handling of America’s war against North Vietnam.
Johnson was ultimately succeeded by Republican Richard Nixon, who became snared in the Watergate scandal and the only president to resign in 1974, facing impeachment and a likely Senate trial.
Democratic Party delegates are to gather in Chicago in August. An open convention there could throw the gathering into disarray if party delegates do not fall in line and support Biden’s endorsement of Harris.
The last time the Democrats failed to select a presidential candidate on the first vote was in 1952. It took four rounds for delegates to unanimously agree on Adlai Stevenson II, the Illinois governor. He lost the general election to war hero and retired Army general, Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican nominee.
Some Democrats are suggesting the party quickly hold a “mini primary” to allow Harris and anyone else to openly compete.
Biden has no public events on his schedule for Monday. The White House said details on his schedule for the rest of the week will be forthcoming. He had been set to meet with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to officials in Israel.
Some material for this article came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
