President Biden announced Sunday that he was pulling out of the 2024 campaign following a weeks-long pressure campaign from fellow Democrats that began in earnest following his much-criticized debate performance in late June.
“I believe it is in the the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down," Biden said in a statement posted to X. He added that he plans to address the nation later this week. In a separate post following the announcement, Biden wrote that he is endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic nominee for president.
"Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump," he wrote. "Let’s do this."
Biden’s exit from the presidential race comes less than a month before the Democrats are scheduled to hold their nominating convention in Chicago starting on Aug. 19. It also raises questions about who will replace him at the top of the ticket, how that person will be picked and whether they have a better shot at defeating former President Donald Trump than the 81-year-old current president.
Biden endorses Kamala Harris for president
Soon after announcing his decision to step down from the 2024 presidential race, President Joe Biden officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
"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," he shared on X, alongside a photo of him and Harris walking outside the White House.
"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President," he continued. "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."
David Artavia
Newsom responds to Biden stepping down: 'History-making president'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
California Governor Gavin Newsom addressed Biden's decision to step down from the 2024 presidential race.
"President Biden has been an extraordinary, history-making president — a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans," he wrote on X. "He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents."
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David Artavia
Biden's granddaughter Naomi calls him 'the most effective president of our lifetime'
Biden's eldest granddaughter Naomi, the daughter of Hunter Biden, said she's "nothing but proud" of her grandfather after he announced his decision to step down from the 2024 presidential race.
"I’m nothing but proud today of my Pop, our President, Joe Biden, who has served our country with every bit of his soul and with unmatched distinction," she wrote on X. "Not only has he been — and will continue to be — the most effective president of our lifetime, but he has likely already cemented himself as the most effective and impactful public servant in our nation’s history."
She continued, "Our world is better today in so many ways thanks to him. To the Americans who have always had his back, keep the faith. He will always have ours."
David Artavia
Joe Biden officially drops out of 2024 presidential race
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at the White House on July 14, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden has officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden wrote in an open letter shared on social media. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, 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 added that he will address the nation later this week to discuss his decision "in more detail."
"For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected," the statement read. "I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me."
Biden continued, "I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it tougher. We just have to remember we are the United States of America."
How Democrats will replace Biden as their presidential nominee
President Biden’s unprecedented withdrawal from the presidential race on Sunday, just weeks before the Democratic National Convention, has thrown a new twist in this year’s election cycle.
"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
In another post, Biden offered a full endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him: "Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year."
What’s next for the Democratic Party as they hurtle toward a convention and the November election against Republican nominee Donald Trump? Here’s a breakdown.
Will Kamala Harris automatically replace Biden?
No. Biden is still president and says he has no plans to step down until after his term ends in January 2025. Harris’ government role as vice president elevates her in the event that Biden vacates the presidency itself — not his campaign. The Democratic National Convention has its own process for selecting presidential nominees in this scenario, and Harris would have to follow it to secure the nomination.
Who will the Democrats consider as possible presidential nominees?
Yahoo News broke down the leading contenders. Some of the most frequently cited names include Vice President Kamala Harris, California. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, has also recently emerged as a potential dark horse contender.
Is Harris considered the frontrunner?
Yes. According to the Associated Press, Harris has several key advantages. She has the ability to access Biden’s campaign funds. She would be a historic nominee as a Black woman. As her supporters are sure to argue, millions of voters already voted for a Biden-Harris ticket four years ago knowing she would be next in line. And earlier this year, Biden won the Democratic primaries with her on the campaign trail as his intended successor.
But her approval ratings aren’t much better than Biden’s, giving an opportunity for other candidates to pitch themselves as more electable against Trump
How will Democrats actually select a new nominee? Will there be another vote?
The primary elections are over, and Biden won an overwhelming majority of the vote against token opposition. The nomination process moves to the roughly 3,900 pledged Democratic National Convention delegates who will now select the party’s candidate. Usually, the nomination is a foregone conclusion by the convention, but these party delegates will have to coalesce around a new nominee.
Who are these delegates?
Delegates represent their states’ Democratic voters at the convention. As the New York Times noted, “They are lawyers and school board members, labor activists and faith leaders, lifelong Democrats and party newcomers. Some of them just turned 18; others are pushing 80.”
The delegate-selection process varies from state to state; some are elected and others are selected. About 99% were pledged to support Biden. According to the Associated Press, candidates’ campaigns are allowed to “review and alter each state’s slate of delegates pledged to them, ensuring that they are filled by loyal supporters.” In short, many of the delegates are enthusiastic Biden backers.
Convention delegates typically hold a ceremonial role because they are obligated to in “good conscience” support the candidate they are pledged to, according to convention rules. With Biden out of the race, they are free to vote how they want.
These Democrats now hold enormous influence over the direction of their party.
What are ‘automatic’ delegates or superdelegates?
In addition to the roughly 3,900 pledged delegates, there are about 700 “automatic” delegates, sometimes called unpledged delegates or superdelegates. These are governors, members of Congress and Democratic Party officials.
But, importantly, they do not get to vote in the first convention roll call vote. Democrats “adopted this rule after the 2016 election in order to limit the power of unpledged delegates,” the Associated Press reported.
What is an open convention?
An open convention is a scenario in which multiple candidates are competing and the delegates are free to vote for their choice. Now that Biden has withdrawn, this will occur if Democrats don’t coalesce around one consensus nominee.
What is a brokered convention?
A brokered convention occurs if no candidate gets a majority of the first roll call vote. The roughly 700 superdelegates would then join the voting pool, and the convention floor would seek consensus amid more votes. Brokered conventions are also sometimes called multiple ballot or multiballot conventions.
“Rules would be established and there would be roll call votes for the names placed into nomination,” Reuters reported.
“It could take several rounds of voting for someone to get a majority and become the nominee. The last brokered convention when Democrats failed to nominate a candidate on the first ballot was in 1952.
What happens to Biden’s millions of fundraising dollars?
Because Biden’s funds are under a joint Biden–Harris ticket, the vice president would have access to his campaign war chest if she were the nominee, Yahoo News reported. His campaign had about $95 million as of its latest filing at the end of June. If another candidate is the nominee, then the funds could be donated to the Democratic National Committee or a super-PAC, who could then use those funds to back the Democratic campaign.
How is the new vice presidential nominee chosen?
Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of the DNC’s rules committee, told Politico that the next presidential nominee would be free to select their own vice president, "subject to the fact that the delegates would have to vote on them."
“She’d need to find somebody who was broadly acceptable,” Kamarck said.
This could add to the drama around an already busy convention as politicians lobby for both parts of the ticket.
What are the key dates to watch?
Democrats had been moving forward with plans to hold a “virtual” roll call vote to lock in their nominee in advance of the convention. It’s unclear if Biden’s announcement will lead the convention rules committee to scrap that effort.
The Democratic convention is Aug. 19–22 in Chicago.
It’s unclear if the new nominee and the Trump campaign will agree to any debates.
The election itself is Nov. 5. Earlier in-person and mail-in voting options vary state by state, with many states sending out mail-in ballots more than a month in advance of Election Day.
Kamala Harris has stayed loyal to Joe Biden, who is under pressure to quit the race
Kamala Harris is the “only choice” to replace Joe Biden as the Democrats’ presidential nominee as there is so little time until the election, senior party figures have told The Telegraph.
The vice-president is seeing a groundswell of support among the party’s many elected officials who believe the 81-year-old president’s position is untenable.
But the question of how she would assume the position at the top of the ticket, should Mr Biden stand down, is increasingly contested.
Allies of Ms Harris are reportedly already working on a plan to secure her as the candidate-in-waiting.
But on Friday, it was reported that Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, favours holding an open convention, which would allow alternatives such as Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, and Gavin Newsom, governor of California, to pitch for the nomination.
She reportedly believes that a “mini-primary” of sorts would strengthen Ms Harris and avoid giving voters the impression she was handed the nomination in a stitch-up by party leaders.
Should he quit the race, Mr Biden could ask the delegates who are bound to him as the winner of the Democratic primary to switch over and endorse Ms Harris. With the backing of the party’s most influential figures, a coronation of sorts could easily follow.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with their respective spouses on July 4 - Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
A former Obama strategist told The Telegraph that they favoured a swift hand-over without opening the floor to competition against Ms Harris.
“We’re 100-ish days from the election. I don’t think we have time for a process,” the strategist said, adding: “I think the vice-president is our only choice right now.”
The strategist, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns, said Ms Harris was an “upgrade” on Mr Biden “in every way”.
“There’s not a single attack on Donald Trump that Joe Biden can make that Kamala Harris can’t make even better,” the strategist said.
The Obama-era veteran said Ms Harris could use her background as a former district attorney to her benefit. “This is somebody who convicted a lot of felons, running against a convicted felon. I’ll take that,” they said.
Another Democrat insider said, despite reservations about Ms Harris’s performance as vice-president, she has “grown” into the role.
The insider noted that as vice-president, Ms Harris has a rare insight into the challenges facing the US through her daily intelligence briefings.
“I think that has made her a deeper thinker,” he said, describing her having “an understanding of the world that she didn’t have three and a half years ago”.
Shifting polls
Polls suggest the public perception of Ms Harris has shifted following Mr Biden’s abysmal debate performance.
While Trump leads Mr Biden in most current polls, a recent survey by CNN had Ms Harris tying with the Republican nominee.
According to Politico, Ms Harris’s allies include former staffers, members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, and other outside players.
“There is an effort quietly afoot to position an apparatus to turn on the lights,” one of those involved told Politico.
The caucus chairman, Jim Clyburn, is among those who favour Ms Harris as a replacement candidate. He told reporters: “I will support her if [Mr Biden] were to step aside.”
According to the New York Times, Ms Pelosi favours an open primary process because of polling data that shows many candidates could appeal to voters.
Alongside Ms Whitmer, Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro, the governors of Maryland and Pennsylvania respectively, outperformed Ms Harris in match-up against Trump in a survey Blue Labs analytics, a Democrat polling company.
Perceived as ineffective
There are concerns that a perception of Ms Harris as an ineffective vice-president may hurt her chances in the election, along with her refusal to break with Mr Biden over his failing health.
She may also be vulnerable over her assignment as the White House point person for controlling illegal migration at the southern border, which has surged under Mr Biden’s administration.
Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat representative for California and close ally of Ms Pelosi, publicly called for a “mini-primary” on Friday, as she urged the president to step down.
“I don’t think we can do a coronation,” she said. “Kind of a mini-primary, maybe a vetting hosted by former presidents, including Obama and Clinton, would be helpful.”
Democrats in Congress said they believed Ms Harris had performed strongly since Mr Biden’s disastrous debate of June 27.
“I do believe it has to be the vice-president. She’s campaigning vigorously under the mantle and she’s the natural successor. It’s going to be important in the scenario that the president isn’t the nominee that we rally around her immediately,” one House member told CNN.
Eleni Kounalakis, the lieutenant governor of California and a Democratic convention delegate, said that Mr Biden’s endorsement of Ms Harris would almost ensure her elevation to the top of the ticket.
Ms Harris has been dogged by a perception she is ineffective - Erin Schaff/AFP
“There’s so much respect for president Biden that if he asked delegates to support her, even with a public chaotic media swirl, I believe most delegates would honour his wishes as the person who was chosen through the primary process and as our president,” she said.
Unconvinced
However, not all Democrats were as convinced of the merits of choosing Ms Harris.
Vicente Gonzalez, who faces a tough re-election bid in Texas, wondered how quickly the party had moved on from the view that Ms Harris might actually be weighing down Mr Biden’s re-election chances.
“I just don’t understand how we go from that to the idea that she should be leading the ticket,” Mr Gonzalez told CNN.
“I have nothing against her, but the facts are just the facts. Not everything changed, right? How did we go from that to this? I mean, nowhere else in the world but this town, right?”
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