WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris is one step closer to becoming the nation’s first female president after her running mate, President Biden, dropped off their shared Democratic ticket on Sunday.
In a post sent minutes after he dropped out of the running for president, Biden wrote on X: “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. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
The former prosecutor, California attorney general and senator has long sought to clinch the top spot on the Democratic nomination. She initially ran against Biden for the presidency in the 2020 election before dropping out and joining his ticket as vice president later that year.
Biden stepped aside from the Democratic ticket after hoards of prominent party leaders clamored for weeks over concerns about the elderly president’s mental acuity and electability following a disastrous performance at his June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump.
The latest on President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race:
- Biden drops out of presidential race after Democratic revolt following disastrous debate: ‘Best interest of the country’
- Biden drops out of presidential race: live updates
- Trump slams Biden ‘as worst president in history’ after president drops re-election bid
- Biden offers ‘full endorsement’ to Kamala Harris as 2024 Democratic nominee after dropping out
- A look back at Biden’s more than 50-year career in politics
Throughout the debate, Biden froze, stumbled over his words and frequently lost his train of thought. Nonetheless, Harris repeatedly claimed the octogenarian could continue his service another four years – despite the fact that he would have been 86 years old by the time he finished a second term.
Harris is a top choice and presumed frontrunner to replace Biden on the ballot, given that she could most easily inherit the millions of dollars raised to re-elect the Biden-Harris ticket.
Still, other Democratic favorites, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, had been pitched as potential replacements given Harris’ poor polling during her time as vice president.
The nearly 4,000 delegates pledged to the Biden-Harris tick have only five weeks or so to rally around a new candidate, as a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is expected to be finalized by Aug. 7.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former first lady Michelle Obama have all previously been floated as possible replacements for Biden.
Throughout her reign as VP, Harris has championed abortion rights. She was also tasked by Biden to become the “border czar” overseeing the immigration crisis at the southern border – a job at which she failed miserably as illegal immigration numbers have boomed to historic levels throughout the course of the Biden administration.
The Trump campaign publicly asserted Harris would become the Democratic nominee for the first time on Wednesday, issuing a statement that Trump’s VP pick Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) would not agree to a vice presidential debate until
“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention,” said Brian Hughes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign. “To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, (Illinois Gov.) JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.