Biden endorsed his VP for the Democratic nomination and said he would serve out the remainder of his term, which ends in January.
Come Saturday evening, President Joe Biden indicated to a small clutch of close aides he’d be open to an alternative ending.
Holed up in his Delaware shore home and still recovering from Covid, President Joe Biden on Saturday night began to come to terms with the end of his reelection bid.
Biden had spent the last few days consulting with his senior aides as they tried to to identify a path to victory in November, said people familiar with the matter, who were granted anonymity to describe the internal discussions.
The president had remained insistent for weeks that he was still the best candidate to beat Donald Trump, even amid mounting evidence that his support from Democratic lawmakers and voters alike was steadily deteriorating.
Biden had been underestimated many times before, he said in public and private leading up to this weekend, and he planned to prove them wrong once again by staying in the race and winning reelection.
But come Saturday evening, Biden indicated to a small clutch of close aides he’d be open to an alternative ending. Top advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti were present in Rehoboth for the discussions on ending Biden’s campaign, the people said, along with deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal, the senior adviser to first lady Jill Biden.
The decision set in motion a flurry of activity on Sunday. Biden separately phoned Vice President Kamala Harris, chief of staff Jeff Zients and campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon to inform them. Then he held a call with other senior advisers at the White House and campaign just before publicly announcing plans to abandon his bid.
Biden’s post to X blindsided much of the rest of the staff at both the White House and the campaign, who had gotten no indication he was reconsidering his run. Since then, Zients has managed much of the communication across an anxious administration, holding calls Sunday afternoon with both the Cabinet and senior White House staffers. Zients is scheduled to hold an all-staff White House call on Monday morning, as well as a call with appointees across the executive branch.
“I could not be more proud to work for President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the American people — alongside all of you, the best White House team in history,” Zients said in an email to staff that was obtained by POLITICO. “There’s so much more to do – and as President Biden says ‘there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together.’”
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's two daughters praised President Joe Biden for his decision to step aside from the race — and made note of the historical parallels with Johnson, the most recent president to not have sought reelection when eligible.
"Once more you have given all a person can for our country," Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb wrote in a joint statement to Biden. "As the daughters of another president who gave his all for America, we are so proud of you again as we have always been."
Johnson Robb's husband, Chuck Robb, served alongside Biden in the Senate from 1989 to 2001. Biden on Sunday published a letter with a similar message to Johnson's surprise announcement in 1968 declining to seek a second term, with both leaders pledging to focus on the responsibilities of the presidency in the remainder of their term.
He said the focus remains defeating Donald Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed confidence Sunday his party would be able to unify around an eventual Democratic nominee and defeat former President Donald Trump in the fall.
“Donald Trump is running scared,” he said on MSNBC. “House Republicans are running scared. Extreme MAGA Republicans are running scared because the focus right now is going to turn back to Project 2025.”
Jeffries had held back from joining calls for President Joe Biden to stand down as his party’s nominee, but expressed the concerns of his conference about the incumbent’s viability and fears he would drag down other Democrats lower on the ballot.
“We will do what's necessary over the next few weeks to prepare for the convention,” Jeffries added.
The New York Democrat vowed to continue to highlight Biden’s accomplishments in the weeks ahead and called his decision to abandon his reelection bid “this is another heroic act in a long running series of heroic acts by Joe Biden on behalf of the American people.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said 20-30,000 Black women were trying to join a call Sunday evening in support of Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, a show of grassroots support for nascent campaign.
Speaking to MSNBC, Beatty said: “For us, it's personal and we stand with Vice President Harris.” Beatty led the CBC from 2021 until 2023.
They all thanked Biden for his service.
Democratic House candidates in New York’s swing districts reacted Sunday to the news of Biden’s withdrawal with gratitude for the president’s service, but no one in the six races considered the most competitive rushed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.
Only John Avlon, the former CNN host challenging Rep.
The reference came toward the end of a lengthy statement that first called Biden “an American hero in the eyes of history” and ticked through the president’s accomplishments.
Rep.
Farther south in the Hudson Valley, former Rep. Mondaire Jones responded with a photo of himself with Biden and a post that read in part, “Thank you, also, for saving our democracy once before in the last presidential election. You deserve this much-needed rest, and know that your legacy is secure.”
Democratic contenders John Mannion and Josh Riley, both of upstate, and Laura Gillen of Long Island also thanked Biden.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said she plans to introduce on Monday a “resolution condemning Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden’s ‘Border czar’ leading to the most catastrophic open border crisis in history.”
That’s not exactly surprising: Republicans at the RNC made clear they planned to use immigration as a major attack against Harris, whom Biden assigned in 2021 to lead diplomatic efforts to address the “root causes” of migration at the southern border.
“I’m so lucky every night I get to tell him I love him, and to thank him. I ask all Americans to join me tonight in doing the same.”
Hunter Biden asked Americans to thank his father for his public service in a statement released Sunday.
“That unconditional love has been his North Star as a President, and as a parent. He is unique in public life today, in that there is no distance between Joe Biden the man and Joe Biden the public servant of the last 54 years,” Hunter Biden said. “I’m so lucky every night I get to tell him I love him, and to thank him. I ask all Americans to join me tonight in doing the same.”
Hunter Biden also praised his father's authenticity, noting his decades in politics, where he channeled his own suffering into serving the American people.
“Over a life time I have witnessed him absorb the pain of countless everyday Americans who he’s given his personal phone number to, because he wanted them to call him when they were hurting,” he wrote.
Rep.
“If Joe Biden does not have the cognitive ability to seek reelection, he does not have the cognitive ability to serve the remainder of his term,” she wrote on X.
The campaign formerly known as Biden for President told the FEC it’s switching to Harris for President.
Kamala Harris is officially taking over what was formerly Joe Biden's campaign, per a new filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The committee switched its name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President.”
It also changed its official website to kamalaharris.com.
State party delegates had put together a “KDH Endorsement” Google form.
The California Democratic Party has launched a whip operation to get delegates to the Democratic National Convention to pledge their support to Vice President Kamala Harris.
The effort started soon after President Joe Biden announced Sunday he was dropping out of the presidential race and subsequently endorsed Harris for the top of the ticket.
Within a few hours of the news, state party delegates had put together a “KDH Endorsement” Google form, according to screenshots reviewed by POLITICO and a person familiar with the effort who was not authorized to speak publicly.
“Today I am proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to be our Democratic nominee and the next President of the United States!” the form reads.
State party chair Rusty Hicks and other party officials spread word of the pledge via email, text message and phone calls, according to delegates who received the outreach.
“I am asking delegates from our great state of California and home to our Vice President, Kamala Harris, to officially endorse her nomination for President of the United States at the convention in Chicago. Please use this link and fill out this form to register your support for Kamala Harris for President,” Hicks wrote in an email.
A spokesperson for the state party did not have immediate comment on the whip operation.
“I got contacted by my colleagues in party leadership. I was asked where I was at in terms of supporting the VP and I said absolutely,” said Mark Gonzalez, a delegate and former chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party.
Gonzalez acknowledged there are “still more questions than there are answers, procedurally and legally,” adding he hoped those questions would be resolved by convention. But he said it was appropriate for Harris’ native California to mount an early show of support from the delegate-rich state.
“She should be doing it. This is her home state,” said Gonzalez, who is currently running for state Assembly.
Harris is aware of the effort and is “supportive of reaching out to delegates,” the person familiar with the planning said.
It's striking how much GOP anger there is over today's news. Donald Trump's campaign is built to beat Joe Biden.
One GOP source tells me he doubts Trump will debate Vice President Kamala Harris — he'll likely call her an illegitimate candidate.
After announcing she would be running for the Democratic nomination for president, Vice President Kamala Harris has been making calls to key Democratic officials, senators and governors shoring up support.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wished him all the best.
President Joe Biden said he would finish the rest of his term despite quitting the presidential race — a move some Republicans criticized. But others cheered on his decision to stay in office.
Several elected officials made note of Biden’s decision to remain as president through January 2025. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, wished Biden “all the best as he serves out the remainder of his term" in a statement praising his decision.
And earlier Sunday — before the announcement — Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) urged Biden to focus on the balance of his term to be the president he “always wanted to be, be able to unite the country, bring it back together.” Manchin specifically asked Biden to focus on the war in Gaza and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said in a statement that she looked forward to continuing to work with Biden as he "finishes out his historic term." In an interview with CNN, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said Biden was committed to his responsibilities as president for the final months of his tenure.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's running as an independent, alleged that the Democratic National Committee will “rig” the nomination in a statement following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the election.
“The response of the DNC was to try and hide President Biden’s degeneration from the American public and disable democracy to ram him through to his party’s nomination,” Kennedy wrote on X. “Many Americans fear that the same DNC elites are about to rig the nominating process again to get a monumentally unpopular vice president to step into President Biden’s shoes.”
Kennedy, who launched his campaign for president in the Democratic primary last April, claimed Biden's mental decline was the reason for his first-ever run for office. He quit the party to run as an independent after some states canceled primaries and no Democratic debates were held.
But as calls for Biden to drop out intensified, he posted a video on X saying he would be willing to accept the Democratic nomination, if offered. He’s now calling for an “open process” not decided by “elites.”
“I’ve worked for Kamala, and I know she’ll do the right thing," said Lily Greenberg Call, who resigned from the administration in May.
Several former Biden administration officials who resigned in protest of the White House’s policy toward Israel told POLITICO they’re somewhat optimistic about how Vice President Kamala Harris would handle the war in Gaza if she became president.
Shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would drop his bid for reelection on Sunday, Lily Greenberg Call, who quit after working in the Interior Department for just over a year, said her personal experience working for the vice president gives her hope.
Greenberg Call was an Iowa Caucus organizer for Harris' primary campaign. And in May, she became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign from the administration in protest of U.S. support for Israel's war.
“Harris must listen to the majority of American voters and use all of the administration’s leverage — including by halting offensive weapons transfers — to push for a lasting ceasefire and hostage exchange,” she said, before adding, “I’ve worked for Kamala, and I know she’ll do the right thing.”
Tariq Habash, who was a Biden policy adviser in the Education Department, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that Harris would be more willing to consider policy changes that center Palestinian human rights and curb Israel’s continued actions in Gaza and elsewhere.
Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza before Biden did, he said, and she comes from a younger generation than the president. She has said on multiple occasions that she supports a two-state solution.
“Frankly, it’s hard to imagine any Democrat have a worse approach to the genocide than Biden given his complete resistance to any shift over the last 10 months,” Habash said.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official involved with transferring arms to American allies, said that Harris seems less “fixed and intransigent” than Biden does on Israel policy.
Still, he acknowledged, there’s only so much any U.S. president can do to change policy toward Israel in the short term.
“I would say I have cautious and limited optimism — but also a deep sense of relief that the Democratic party will not be nominating for the Presidency of the United States a man who has made us all complicit in so much and such unnecessary harm,” Paul said.
Notably, the Democratic ticket shakeup comes just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington to meet with Biden and address Congress.
President Joe Biden told senior staff last night that he was full steam ahead, according to two people familiar with the conversation granted anonymity to speak about the private meeting. He then notified them at 1:45 p.m. today — just moments before his announcement went public — that he had changed his mind.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is weighing in on Kamala Harris’ candidacy for the top of the Democratic ticket, a preview of the messaging that’s sure to come from the Republican Party.
“Over the last four years she co-signed Biden's open border and green scam policies that drove up the cost of housing and groceries,” the Ohio senator wrote on X. “She owns all of these failures, and she lied for nearly four years about Biden's mental capacity — saddling the nation with a president who can't do the job.”
And though Harris appears to be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Vance kept his warning open-ended, saying that he and Trump are “ready to save America, whoever's at the top of the Democrat ticket.”
President Joe Biden's campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon reassured the campaign's top leadership team during a 4 p.m. call that "this is the team that will beat Donald Trump," she said, according to one person on the call who was granted anonymity to describe a private meeting.
She said the campaign will operate in compliance with Democratic National Committee rules, which is now faced with whether to move forward with a virtual roll call or to an open convention. She reassured them that their jobs were safe but suggested they could also expect to see new faces in the mix.
The White House said that he has no intention of resigning in a statement.
Joe Biden has no intention of resigning the presidency, the White House said in a statement on Sunday, and that he “looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people.”
The statement comes after Republicans began openly calling for Biden to resign in the wake of his decision to abandon his campaign, arguing that he could not continue running the country if he wasn’t going to continue running for reelection.
Biden aides and allies have uniformly dismissed the notion, insisting that Biden is both capable and determined to serve out the final months of his presidency.
“President Biden inherited an economy in freefall, a skyrocketing violent crime rate, and alliances in tatters from his predecessor. He turned that around to deliver the strongest economic growth in the world and the lowest violent crime rate in nearly 50 years, while making NATO bigger than ever," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said. “He’ll keep fighting to protect Americans’ freedoms from radical abortion bans and attacks on the rule of law.”
A person familiar with the calls says President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “spoke multiple times earlier today ahead of his announcement.”
Several major abortion-rights groups argued that Kamala Harris' record on the issue gives her an edge.
The country’s biggest abortion-rights groups quickly rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, either explicitly backing her bid for president in the wake of Joe Biden's announcement or, at the very least, praising her record.
All argued that Harris’ ability to speak bluntly and forcefully on abortion rights — and her record on the issue as California attorney general, senator and vice president — give her an edge, particularly as her GOP opponents seek to dodge the issue.
Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All, told POLITICO that Harris’ candidacy is already energizing the group's members and will “make sure this issue is front and center for the election, as it should be.”
Timmaraju, who had remained a fierce defender of Biden even as calls for him to drop out grew, acknowledged that the vice president may be an improvement in some ways.
“It's no secret that President Biden doesn't have the same record on this issue that Vice President Harris does, and she is able to really take the fight to a different level,” she said. “There were people in our movement who were always concerned that the president wasn't as fiery about the issue and wasn't as vocal. So I am hoping that Vice President Kamala leading the ticket is going put some of those fears to rest.”
EMILY's List — which launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to promote and defend Harris last year — also rushed to endorse her Sunday. In an interview Friday, prior to Biden’s announcement, the group’s Senior Vice President Christina Reynolds praised Harris as "a terrific messenger on the issue that we believe is going to win Democrats this election, which is abortion.”
Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, struck a different tone, saying she was “saddened” by Biden stepping aside but recognized that this is one of life’s “historic moments of opportunity to chart new paths.”
Though her statement Sunday heaped praise on Harris — noting that she was the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic — the group did not make an official endorsement, explaining that its internal rules require a vote by its board of directors and ratification by its local chapters first.
“I am confident that the people will rally behind a ticket committed to a path forward where reproductive freedom — and abortion — is an undeniable right,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion groups were swift to pounce on Harris on Sunday, putting out statements calling her the administration’s “abortion czar” and accusing her of “extremism.”
“Harris is so committed to abortion that she can’t see anything else — including the developmental stages of children before birth or the real needs of women,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Lila Rose, the founder of the anti-abortion activist group Live Action, called a potential Harris presidency "disastrous for human rights."
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), the subject of rumblings as a potential vice presidential pick for Kamala Harris, offered a full-throated endorsement of her presidential bid on Sunday afternoon.
“I couldn’t be more confident that Vice President @KamalaHarris is the right person to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country into the future,” Kelly wrote in a post on the social media network X. “She has my support for the nomination, and Gabby [Giffords] and I will do everything we can to elect her President of the United States.”
Kelly handily won a full term in the Senate in 2022 in Arizona, a key swing state.
The Clintons want Harris. Obama backs an open process.
Former President Barack Obama endorsed an open Democratic primary process at the convention next month — less than an hour after former President Bill Clinton endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” Obama said in a statement, which did not mention Harris. “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.”
Earlier Sunday, a joint statement between Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said the two were backing Harris: “Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her.”
Their statements came soon after President Joe Biden announced he would not be seeking reelection and endorsed Harris to replace him at the top of the ticket. Harris announced shortly after that with Biden’s support, she would seek the Democratic nomination.
The Democratic National Convention starts on Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Both former presidents Obama and Clinton thanked Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, for the current president’s service. In his statement, Obama wrote about picking Biden as his running mate and said the president had “every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started.”
“I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight,” Obama wrote. “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.”
Sen.
Coons said he has spoken to Biden since he announced he was bowing out of the race, but declined to go into details. On Friday, Coons suggested Biden was weighing whether to stay in the race, even as campaign officials doubled down on messaging that he would stay in the race.
Three people close to the governor underscored Murphy's experience in state and national politics as qualifications.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s allies are floating the possibility of the governor being a vice presidential pick after President Joe Biden abruptly exited the presidential race on Sunday.
Three people close to the governor granted anonymity to speak candidly underscored Murphy's experience in state and national politics as qualifications. One person close to the governor said that Murphy would not be a contender for the top slot as president, but said there is "chatter" around Murphy being a contender.
“I think there's a world of key Democrats who are very interested in seeing the governor strongly considered to help round out the Democratic ticket now that the president has decided to not continue along with his election,” this person said. “We’ll see how that shapes up in the next number of days and weeks.”
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the presidential nominee shortly after his Sunday announcement.
Another person close to Murphy said that they had not heard Murphy directly float the possibility of being vice president, but they also noted that the governor has been a strong Biden supporter even after the president’s disastrous June debate performance — negating any reason to weigh in on a vice-presidential run.
“President Biden has made a decision today that will lead to Governor Murphy being included in the conversation about what the ticket will look like going forward,” the person said.
The New Jersey Globe first reported Murphy would not seek the POTUS nomination and reported the governor "received some calls from national Democratic leaders," although it is unclear who those calls came from.
Murphy has served as governor since 2018 and was reelected to a second term in 2021 by a closer-than-expected margin. He has maintained a national profile by chairing both the Democratic Governors Association and National Governors Association. He has spent his time in office advocating for progressive causes like expanding abortion access in the state and tightening the state’s already strict gun laws.
One person close to the governor noted that Murphy, an ambassador to Germany under President Obama, has “serious” foreign policy experience that could set him apart from other Democratic governors being considered for the vice presidential slot.
Murphy has a relationship with Biden. In 2017, Biden said that he encouraged Murphy to run for office while Murphy was still the ambassador to Germany. The governor also recently hosted a fundraiser for Biden.
Murphy also served as finance chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Murphy was reported to be interested in running for president if Biden did not run for reelection, although he has publicly denied any interest.
Former Bernie Sanders pollster runs the numbers on some top contenders for the ticket.
A top Democratic pollster is circling a polling memo addressed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom arguing he’s in strong position to contend for the presidential nomination.
The memo, by former Bernie Sanders pollster Ben Tulchin, compares Newsom with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A source close to Newsom said it was not sanctioned by the governor, who has said several times that he backs Harris, and that she was best positioned should Biden not run.
Tulchin’s memo that analyzes public surveys showed Newsom and Harris both behind former President Donald Trump by 2 percentage points and Whitmer trailing by 4 points.
Sources who shared the memo stressed that it started circling before Biden exited the race on Sunday—and before he endorsed Harris.
“While the future remains unpredictable and there may not be an opportunity for [Newsom] to run this election, nevertheless we thought it would be helpful if you had relevant data along with key talking points to be able to make the case that Newsom can win should such an opportunity present itself,” Tulchin wrote.
The memo also states that Newsom has better net favorability ratings and lower negatives than Biden and Harris. It also stated that Newsom performs better with independent voters and outperforms Biden and Harris with Latino voters.
Since Biden’s endorsement of Harris, a throng of Democrats have begun coalescing behind her.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told me over the phone that he expects an “open, responsive, democratic process” for officially selecting a new nominee. But there’s been no communication from party leaders as of yet for what exactly that would look like.
And personally, he signaled that his mind may already be made up: “I know the vice president very well … I have just boundless respect, admiration and affection for her,” Blumenthal said. “So she’s at the top of my list on a strong bench.”
In a letter shared with POLITICO, the officials wrote that she is the Democratic Party's strongest candidate for president.
Dozens of current and former delegates to the Democratic National Convention have signed a letter endorsing Kamala Harris' White House bid, an immediate show of force for the vice president suddenly thrust into position to claim the mantle.
In the letter, which was shared with POLITICO, the officials wrote that they believe Harris is the Democratic Party's strongest candidate for president — the one who can best offer a clear, unifying vision for the future of the United States.
“As a former prosecutor, there is no one better to make the case for American democracy and against convicted felon Donald Trump than Kamala Harris," they wrote. "Vice President Harris is the strongest potential Democratic candidate who can best protect President Biden’s legacy and long list of accomplishments."
The officials added: “She has shown resolve and fortitude in the face of racist and sexist attacks by MAGA Republicans. We also firmly believe that Vice President Harris and her Vice Presidential selection will help Democratic candidates for U.S. House, Senate, and in the states we need to win in November, enabling us to enact laws that truly benefit the American people.”
The group includes delegates from California, Texas, Florida, Washington, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina and several other states.
Vulnerable Democrats facing tough reelection campaigns this year quickly joined the chorus.
Some Democrats are publicly coming to Vice President Kamala Harris' corner in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's exit from the race.
Leaders from major congressional caucuses voiced their support for Harris on Sunday, including Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who said that Harris has “proven time and time again that she can prosecute the case against Donald Trump and campaign vigorously for Democrats down the ballot,” and Rep. Nanette D. Barragán (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The Congressional Black Caucus PAC said it’s backing Harris, as well.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who was leading an effort to push back against nominating Biden before the convention and on Friday called for Biden to drop out, wrote that he urges all Democrats to endorse Harris for the purposes of “unifying our party.”
A handful of down-ballot Democratic candidates also expressed their support for Harris, including Maryland Senate hopeful Angela Alsobrooks, who said she’s “behind her 100 percent.” Harris hit the trail last month with Alsobrooks, who would be the first Black woman to represent Maryland should she win in the fall.
New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Senate and would be one of just a few Asian Americans in the upper chamber should he win, said he has “full faith” in Harris.
“Her candidacy is historic, not just the opportunity to elect the first woman, the first AAPI President, and a Black woman, but to continue on the incredible progress we’ve started,” Kim wrote. “The time to unify is now. The stakes are high.”
Vulnerable Democrats facing tough reelection campaigns this year also joined the chorus. Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten, a battleground Democrat, called for people to “unite as a country” behind Harris. Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin endorsed Harris as well.
MoveOn, a progressive organization that is investing tens of millions of dollars in support of Biden and down-ballot Democrats this year, said it’s “all in” on electing Harris. MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting said in a statement that she believes “those who share our commitment to winning this election and protecting our futures will do everything in their power to lift her up and stop Trump in his tracks.” Priorities USA, a major Democratic super PAC, said it is tripling its investment in anti-Trump ad buys and "fully stands" behind Harris.
Still, there have been concerns of appearing to have a Harris coronation out of concern that an uncompetitive process could turn off voters. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently expressed support for an open convention, POLITICO reported on Friday.
The uncertainties created by Biden's decision to step aside — and its implications for the November election — are deepening confusion among some diplomats.
"Heads spinning," was all a Washington-based diplomat could tell me about Biden's decision.
She had previously privately warned him that he was dragging down other Democrats.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked President Joe Biden for his decades of public service and called him “one of the most consequential Presidents in American history” in a statement Sunday.
Pelosi had served as a sounding board for those anxious about the president’s viability and warned the president privately that he was dragging down other Democrats. Following Biden’s decision to stand aside, she wrote: “God blessed America with Joe Biden’s greatness and goodness.”
The former speaker did not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in her statement and has previously voiced support for an open nomination process. Biden himself backed his vice president shortly after announcing his decision Sunday.
“Now is the time to support Kamala Harris,” they wrote on social media
Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, have both endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris toreplace President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential candidate.
“We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her,” the Clintons said in a statement posted on X. “Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her.”
Soon after President Joe Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take over on the top of the ticket, at least four Republicans lawmakers went on the offensive, slamming Harris for her role as “border czar.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson ripped into Harris online, calling her a “a completely inept border czar” who “co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration,” in a lengthy post on social media.
“Biden endorsing Harris to replace him as Democrat nominee is just going from incognizant to incompetent,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y) posted on X.
“Kamala Harris is the Border Czar. More than NINE MILLION illegal aliens have come across our southern border and endangered American families under her leadership,” Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) wrote.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) echoed the message: “Kamala Harris has done more to hurt Hispanic Americans than any other president in US History by ignoring the rape, trafficking, and torture of Hispanic Women and CHILDREN,” she posted.
Multiple White House aides tell me that Anita Dunn, President Joe Biden’s senior adviser, held an all staff comms call soon after he announced that he was no longer running for reelection.
One aide said she “reassured everyone who had been out front saying this wasn’t happening that they were correct because the decision came down late.”
Dunn told staff that they were all processing at the same time, implying that she herself wasn't aware beforehand. And she confirmed that it was an extremely small group of people who knew that Biden had made this decision. The person added that Dunn said the administration still had big things to accomplish and needed to also focus on defending and protecting Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden had just endorsed.
Several Democrats rumored to be eyeing a presidential run someday where quick to heap praise on the president.
Democrats — including those who publicly and privately prodded him out of the race — rushed to gush about President Joe Biden’s record, support his decision to remain in office and emphasize the importance of beating former President Donald Trump.
“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,” Senate Majority Leader
Sen.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who was the first Democratic governor to call on Biden to reevaluate his candidacy, followed suit and praised him for stepping aside.
"President Biden’s decision today not to seek reelection is the ultimate example of putting the country first — something Joe Biden has done over and over again in his unparalleled career. We are all deeply grateful to President Biden for his lifetime of service," she said in a statement.
Prominent Democrats who have been floated as potential replacements for Biden or as running mates with Vice President Kamala Harris were also quick to weigh in.
“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,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. “He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.”
“President Biden is a great public servant who knows better than anyone what it takes to defeat Donald Trump,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who, like Newsom, was a surrogate for the Biden campaign, wrote on X. “His remarkable work to lower prescription drug costs, fix the damn roads, bring supply chains home, address climate change, and ensure America’s global leadership over decades will go down in history.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, "President Biden has gotten an incredible amount done to move our country forward, defend our democracy, and protect real freedom. I am proud to work by his side and am grateful for his leadership and his unwavering commitment to delivering for Pennsylvania — the Commonwealth that raised him," he said.
And Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is personally wealthy and has a robust political operation in place, also praised Biden. But his statement came with a warning: "As we extend our gratitude to President Biden and reflect on his many accomplishments, we must not ignore the threat posed by Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House."
What Democrats didn’t do: coalesce around a successor for Biden atop the ticket, even as the president publicly backed Harris.
Rep.
Trahan did not offer an endorsement, but did lavish praise on Harris, who she called “strong” and “proven.”
Ry Rivard contributed to this report.
“I don’t think a soul in Delaware knew,” said a Biden state official, alluding to campaign staff.
President Joe Biden’s state campaign aides were telephoning delegates ahead of next month’s Democratic convention at the very moment he announced his withdrawal from the race Sunday afternoon.
“It was a nationwide push to shore up delegates for the roll call,” said a Biden state official, whose fellow staffers were conducting the outreach. In the weeks since his disastrous debate, Biden aides have been working to keep delegates to the Chicago convention in line.
In another sign of how the president’s decision stunned even his own staff, his Delaware-based campaign leadership concluded a staff call with state aides just minutes before Biden released his letter withdrawing from the race.
“I don’t think a soul in Delaware knew,” said the official, alluding to Biden staff.
Make America Great Again Inc., the major pro-Trump PAC, already has an ad attacking Vice President Kamala Harris ready to go. An official said they were working to get it aired in major media markets in Pennsylvania, Georgia and the Phoenix/Tucson area immediately.
A narrator in the ad says Harris “was in on it, she covered up Joe Biden’s obvious mental decline.”
Speaker Mike Johnson teased possible efforts to prevent Democrats from taking Biden off the ballot earlier Sunday.
Don’t believe the hype: Republicans are unlikely to gain traction in legal efforts to prevent Democrats from taking President Joe Biden off the ballot.
No state will have printed ballots prior to the Democratic National Convention, and the nominee chosen by the party at or in the run up to the convention was always slated to be the person who appears on the ballot in each state. Still, despite the odds, it seems certain some legal challenges will emerge in a climate when nearly every political controversy winds up in court.
House Speaker Mike Johnson teased possible legal challenges to Biden’s removal earlier Sunday.
“I think they've got legal hurdles in some of these states,” he said on CNN. “And it'll be litigated, I would expect, on the ground there.”
But others involved in the process said any legal challenges would be longshots at best — if not outright frivolous.
“The Democratic nominee for president will be on all 50 state ballots,” wrote longtime Democratic Party lawyer Marc Elias. “There is no basis for any legal challenge. Period.”
Trump also told CNN's Kaitlan Collins he believes Vice President Kamala Harris would be easier to beat in November.
We have the first Truth Social response and fundraising push from former President Donald Trump, zeroing in on his rival dropping out.
On Truth Social, he said President Joe Biden was “not fit to run for President,” and then launched into an attack against the president’s policies, particularly when it comes to the southern border.
“We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in the post.
Minutes after Biden dropped out, Trump talked to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, telling her he believes Vice President Kamala Harris — who Biden endorsed — would be easier to beat in November. But reporting in recent weeks has noted that Trump advisers hoped Biden would stay in the race, even as the campaign ramped up its attacks on Harris.
Trump's campaign also immediately sought to fundraise off the news, with an email going out within roughly 40 minutes of Biden's announcement on X with the subject line, "Biden just suspended his campaign."
In typical Trump fashion, the message ran through a list of grievances against the president — accusing "Biden's FBI" of raiding his home and the president's "allies" of convicting him in a "RIGGED TRIAL" before asking for donations.
Trump's team has teased the possibility of Biden dropping out in fundraising emails several times before. But the quick digital fundraising reaction was notable, in part because of its contrast to Biden's own operation, which had sent a message to supporters minutes before the news, promoting what "Joe and Kamala" plan to do in the first 100 days of their second term.
Some email accounts received the message after Biden posted he was dropping out.
The next nominee must begin locking down the endorsements of delegates.
Steve Ricchetti, one of his closest aides, joined him this weekend to review the latest polling and Democratic pushback.
REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware — Biden’s decision to drop out came on the fourth day of sequestration at his shore home in Delaware, where he’s been isolating while recovering from Covid.
The president was initially joined by just a small group of aides, and he has spent the entire period out of public view. The White House in the meantime provided little detail on Biden’s activities, alluding only to a handful of briefings with senior aides and a congratulatory call to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
But Biden was joined this weekend by Steve Ricchetti, one of his closest aides, who people familiar with the matter said had traveled to Delaware to review the latest polling and pushback from Democrats calling for Biden to step aside.
And just hours before the president said he would abandon his bid, his campaign was hit with more grim news: A new poll put Biden down 7 percentage points in Michigan, more than double the deficit he faced in the must-win state heading into last month’s ruinous debate.
President Joe Biden's announcement stunned White House and campaign aides, who up until this afternoon were insisting that he would stay in the race. Many of them, including some senior aides, first found out that was no longer the case by reading the letter that Biden posted on X.
“We’re all finding out by tweet,” said one Democrat familiar with the immediate reaction. “None of us understand what’s happening.”
In a sign of the abruptness of Biden's decision, the campaign blasted out a fundraising email for "Joe and Kamala" at 1:54 p.m. — eight minutes after Biden announced he was stepping aside.
Even as there was chatter about an open nomination process, Joe Biden began using moments to shut down the Kamala Harris deniers.
There were hints in recent weeks that President Joe Biden would endorse his vice president should he step aside from his campaign.
Even as there was chatter about an open nomination process, Biden began using moments to shut down the Kamala Harris deniers. He told reporters at his NATO press conference that he wouldn’t have picked her as his No. 2 if he didn’t believe she was qualified to serve as the nation’s leader. And then, unprompted, he reiterated this last week during a speech at the NAACP convention.
“Folks, it’s because of you that I am president and Kamala Harris is vice president,” he said. “And, by the way, she’s not only a great vice president; she could be president of the United States.”
His statement announcing his Harris endorsement on Sunday had a similar message — he said picking Harris as his VP was the “best decision” he’s made. Then he told the party it’s time to turn its attention to beating Donald Trump.
“Let’s do this,” he said in the post.
The endorsement is likely to shut down any serious competition from other Democrats.
President Joe Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee.
“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,” Biden wrote in a statement on social media. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
The president’s endorsement is likely to shut down any serious competition from other Democrats to be the nominee, clearing the path for the vice president to be the 2024 Democratic candidate.
A source familiar with the discussions tells me that around 1:45 p.m. today, “President Biden told the senior team that he had changed his mind. Last night, the message was to continue full speed ahead.”
“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,” Speaker Mike Johnson said.
Immediately after Joe Biden dropped the bombshell that he was dropping out of the presidential race, congressional Republicans started to openly call for him to resign from the White House now.
Speaker Mike Johnson said in forcing Biden off the ballot that “the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite” and called for Biden to resign immediately.“
“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,” Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson argued that swapping Biden for Vice President Kamala Harris would do nothing to better their electoral prospects, calling her a “gleeful accomplice” for the administration’s policies.
“If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a member of House GOP leadership, posted on X.
GOP leadership in the House wasn’t alone.
“Doesn’t have the mental acuity or cognitive ability to run a political campaign but can serve for 6 more months as president? He should resign,” wrote Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who’s running to succeed Mitch McConnell as leader of the Senate Republican conference, echoed those calls in a statement.
“Let me be clear, if Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign today,” Scott said. “While we welcome the news that one of America's most destructive presidents will be denied a second term, it changes very little as to the stakes of this election.”
The head of the Senate GOP campaign arm, Montana's Steve Daines, called on Biden to resign immediately.
“If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as President," Daines said in a statement. "Being President is the hardest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief."
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), chair of the largest House GOP caucus — the Republican Study Committee — echoed those calls, as well. Similar calls came from lawmakers including Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) and Rep. Carlos Gimenez (Fla.).
“If Joe Biden is unfit to be the Democrat nominee for president, he’s unfit to be president for the rest of his term,” Hern said. “For the good of the country, Joe Biden should resign immediately.”
The calls for Biden to resign, though prevalent, were not universal among congressional Republicans.
"I respect President Biden’s decision to act in the best interest of the country by stepping aside in the 2024 presidential election," centrist Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has said she cannot vote for Trump, said in a post on X.
The president posted his intentions on X.
Weeks of uncertainty about President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign ended with a social media post on Sunday — throwing the 2024 election into chaos.
“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,” the president said in a statement posted on X, shocking the country.
It immediately sent the Democratic Party into a spiral, just four weeks away from the party’s nominating convention in Chicago. Biden’s statement notably didn’t immediately endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, spurring questions about the party’s — and the president’s — next steps.
He said he will address the nation.
