Biden ends re-election campaign, endorses Kamala Harris to be Democratic nominee against Trump

US President Joe Biden has ended in his re-election campaign and has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor.

Following the last month’s disastrous debate with Donald Trump, calls had mounted for Biden to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Biden on Sunday said that even though it was his intention to seek re-election, withdrawing from the presidential election was in the best interest of the nation and the Democratic Party. He further said that he would address the nation later this week to share more details.

pic.twitter.com/RMIRvlSOYw

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

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In a follow-up post on X, Biden said that Harris had his full support and endorsement to be the Democratic 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. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” said Biden.

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. 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… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

In a call with CNN shortly after he announced his withdrawal, Biden slammed Trump as the worst president in the American history.

Sharing the details of the call, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins further said that Trump believes that Harris will be easier to beat than Biden.

In a phone call with CNN minutes after Biden announced his exit from the 2024 race, former President Trump responded, “He is the worst president in the history of our country. He goes down as the single worst president by far in the history of our country.” While it's unclear who…

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 21, 2024

While there had long been concerns about Biden’s age, last month’s debate with Trump proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Throughout the debate, Biden spoke in a raspy voice and played catch up with Trump. Multiple times, he struggled to complete his sentences and appeared to lose his train of thoughts. Coupled with long-running concerns on age, the performance was seen as a sign of poor health that put his physical and mental capacity to see through another term in question.

Trump campaign’s plan for race against Kamala Harris

In recent days, the Trump campaign had been preparing a plan of attack against Harris in case Biden withdrew and endorsed her. Even in case he would not have openly endorsed her, she would have been the frontrunner to be the party’s nominee in an open convention. To be sure, the Democratic National Convention will still take place and it is yet to decided if she would be approved as the nominee smoothly or there is infighting within the party.

The New York Times has reported that the Trump campaign has already prepared opposition research books on Harris and other Democrats who could become the nominee.

The newspaper further reported that the Trump campaign has conducted polling to assess the vulnerabilities of Harris. The focus on her from before the withdrawal’s announcement was based on the premise that she was the most likely nominee in case of a withdrawal as the party would lose support among Black constituents if the party bypassed the chance to deliver the nation its first Black woman as president — something the party would not want.

Following Biden’s withdrawal, Trump launched into his characteristic tirade against everyone from the purported Washington elite to the media and invoked conspiracy theories that are a staple of his far-right Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

“The WASHINGTON ESTABLISHMENT, the Hate-America Media, and the corrupt DEEP STATE did everything they could to protect Biden, but he just quit the race in COMPLETE DISGRACE! (sic)” said Trump in a message to potential donors, as per The Times.