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President Joe Biden is ending his quest for reelection.
Biden announced his intention Sunday afternoon, promising to reveal more about his decision soon.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden’s statement posted on X read. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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.”
His statement thanked Vice President Kamala Harris “for being an extraordinary partner in all this work,” but the statement did explicitly endorse her as his successor.
However, in a subsequent statement posted to X, Biden offered “my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.” Biden then called on Democrats to unite, writing “it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
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
This is a developing story. See below for updates, all times Pacific.
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2:51 p.m. PT
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced on X that she will introduce a resolution tomorrow “condemning Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden’s ‘Border czar’ leading to the most catastrophic open border crisis in history.”
Tomorrow I am introducing a resolution condemning Kamala Harris’ role as Joe Biden’s “Border czar” leading to the most catastrophic open border crisis in history.
Biden’s open border czar Kamala Harris and every elected Democrat owns this border crisis.
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) July 21, 2024
2:48 p.m. PT
Hunter Biden has broken his silence with the following statement:
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. Tomorrow I will introduce a resolution calling on Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th amendment and assume the duties of acting President. pic.twitter.com/El10ourh5T
— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) July 21, 2024
2:43 p.m. PT
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced on X that she will introduce a resolution calling on Harris “to invoke the 25th Amendment and assume the duties of acting President” because if Biden does not have the “cognitive ability to seek reelection, he does not have the cognitive ability to serve” as president.
I commend President Biden for stepping down. His infirmities were evident to any unbiased observer from the beginning. It was this progressive deterioration — and his abandonment of Democratic Party principles — that prompted me to enter the race and ensure American voters had a…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 21, 2024
2:31 p.m. PT
In his statement on X, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accuses the DNC of trying to “rig the nominating process again to get a monumentally unpopular vice president to step into President Biden’s shoes” after attempting to hide Biden’s “degeneration from the American public and disable democracy to ram him through to his party’s nomination.”
“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,” RFK Jr. wrote.
I commend President Biden for stepping down. His infirmities were evident to any unbiased observer from the beginning. It was this progressive deterioration — and his abandonment of Democratic Party principles — that prompted me to enter the race and ensure American voters had a…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 21, 2024
2:27 p.m. PT
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said he is not yet ready to back Harris and instead has called for a “truncated process” to pick a nominee.
As noted below, there is likely to be more talk of a “process” rather than an outright endorsement of Harris coming from elected Democrats who still have to face voters. There is already criticism, especially from the former 2016 Bernie Sanders’s supporters, that the Democratic Party is once again “rigging” the nomination to anoint the party’s establishment and donor class pick.
News: Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) on CBS calls on DNC to have a “truncated process” to pick the nominee and let it play out formally… says he is not ready to endorse VP Harris and wants a process to play out
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 21, 2024
2:12 p.m. PT
That was fast! Here is TIME magazine’s new cover.
Why Joe Biden dropped out https://t.co/TLUwr4qvzv pic.twitter.com/HwFWKDAMxW
— TIME (@TIME) July 21, 2024
2:11 p.m. PT
Biden’s campaign committee has officially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to change its name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President.”
2:04 p.m. PT
In a post on X, Biden donor and fundraiser John Morgan tells the establishment media figures who urged Biden to leave the race that they should be “careful what you wish for” because “Joe Biden’s endorsement of Kamala is his [f*ck] you to all who pushed him out.”
This is likely in reference to Harris’ unpopularity with voters and the fact that the latest polling shows her still losing to Trump.
Joe Biden’s endorsement of Kamala is his fuck you to all who pushed him out.
Be careful what you wish for.@JoeNBC @maggieNYT @jmart @katierogers @maureendowd
— John Morgan (@JohnMorganESQ) July 21, 2024
1:33 p.m. PT
So far, Obama and Pelosi stand out among Democrat leaders for not specifically endorsing Harris. It will be interesting to see whether current elected Democrat politicians (who still must face public opinion) call for the party to get behind Harris or call for an open and competitive process that, at least in theory, will look less rigged.
1:19 p.m. PT
Continue reading: Breitbart.com
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