America Without Biden, Biden Without America: Joe Biden Bows Out Of The 2024 Presidential Race
Abandoned by his party, Biden announced less than an hour ago on social media platform X that he is withdrawing from the presidential election.
Update (22 July, 02:15am SGT): In an X statement posted at 2:13am, Biden announced his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. “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.”
No sitting president has ever abandoned a re-election bid with barely four months to go before voters head to the polls. The last such occurrence was Lyndon Johnson’s abandonment in 1968; even that came eight months before the election, in the wake of the expansion of the Vietnam War.
It is notably unsurprising that Biden has backed down amidst growing calls and pressure the past week, including from his own party leaders. On 19 July 2024, nine more House Democrats and two Democratic senators joined the growing ranks of their colleagues urging President Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the pressure campaign against the president shows no sign of subsiding weeks after his disastrous performance in last month's presidential debate. Some phrased it more tactfully as a call for President Biden to "pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders." Others, such as Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, more overtly claimed that they "think the President should end his campaign." Two of the United States representatives, Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico and Marc Veasey of Texas's 33rd congressional district, are part of key caucuses on Capitol Hill whose support Mr. Biden has courted and held onto as he tries to quell concerns about his fitness for a second term. They had since publicly called for Biden to withdraw, citing public concerns about his age and fitness – putting at risk what, in their view, should be a winning campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Despite Biden’s initial defiance that he would remain in the race, perhaps the recognition of the damaging effect he might have on down-ballot Democrats in competitive races, coupled with the internal tension, had opened the President to the idea of dropping out of the race.
Indeed, the fortuitous series of recent lineups for Trump has seemed to tip the electorate in his favor: Trump comfortably secured the Republican nomination despite having to simultaneously play defendant, dodging thirty-four felony convictions, charges of fraud, election subversion, and obstruction. Not only did Trump dodge cleanly – he triumphed. The United States Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling on July 1 that immunized Trump from official conduct when he was president, impeding special counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to prosecute Trump for interfering in the 2020 election. On July 13, Trump survived an assassination attempt from a gunman firing from a roof 130 yards away. Face smeared with blood, he rose and defiantly pumped his fist, yelling “Fight!”. The same day that the Republican convention in Milwaukee certifying Trump’s nomination opened, federal Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed a separate case brought by special counsel Jack Smith alleging that Trump improperly retained classified documents that he took home with him when he left the White House in 2021. To say that Trump had been coasting along while Biden withdrew into self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 would be an understatement: he has been gaining momentum at an incredulous pace, juxtaposed against Biden’s lackluster performance at the presidential debate and campaign trail.
Replacing Biden atop the Democratic ticket is likely to set off internal Democratic tremors as ambitious officials maneuver to become his successor. Factions have already formed around Harris and prominent governors, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and California’s Gavin Newsom.
Harris would seem to be the heir apparent. She broke a barrier as the first female vice president. A woman of color, she enjoys strong support among African Americans, a loyal piece of the Democratic coalition. Overall, though, Harris’ approval rating stood at only 32% in an NBC News poll released earlier this month.
Additionally, while Harris has polled better than other Democrats commonly floated as replacement candidates to Biden, it is possible that polls fail to factor in how months of campaigning can change voters’ perceptions of many of the lesser-known candidates lacking the benefit of national name recognition.
Interestingly enough, while Biden thanked Harris for "being an extraordinary partner", he did not endorse her to be his replacement as the Democratic Party presidential nominee in his letter.
(Note: view update at article head. )
In a comment made to CNN shortly after Biden’s announcement, Trump stated that “Kamala Harris will be easier to defeat".”
A flurry of polls conducted in recent weeks show, at best, a grudging three point difference between Trump and Harris: CBS News/YouGov polls find Trump to lead Harris by three points (51%-48%), while Economist/YouGov polls (margin of error 3.1) find Harris to lose to Trump 39% to 44%.
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Bibliography
Biden, Joe . “X.com.” X (formerly Twitter), 2024. https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1815087772216303933.
Dorn, Sara. “Here’s How Kamala Harris Performs in Polls against Trump—as Biden Drops out and Endorses Harris.” Forbes, August 1, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/07/21/heres-how-kamala-harris-performs-in-polls-against-trump-as-biden-drops-out-and-endorses-harris/.
Nicholas, Peter, and Dareh Gregorian. “President Joe Biden Drops out of 2024 Presidential Race.” NBC News, July 21, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/president-joe-biden-drops-2024-presidential-race-rcna159867.
Osgood, Brian, and Ali Harb. “Biden Endorses Kamala Harris as US Presidential Nominee. What Happens Next?” Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera, July 21, 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/21/joe-biden-has-dropped-out-of-the-presidential-race-what-happens-next.
Samuels, Brett , and Alex Gangitano. “Biden Endorses Harris as Democratic Nominee after Ending His Candidacy.” The Hill, July 21, 2024. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4784460-joe-biden-endorses-kamala-harris/.