Joe Biden his just announced that he is abandoning his re-election campaign. This is his statement:
Biden doesn’t explain why he is stepping down, other than that it is “in the best interest of my party and the country.” The former is certainly true. Biden says he will elaborate in a speech to be delivered “later this week.”
Biden says that henceforward he will “focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” This is his response to those (like J.D. Vance) who point out that if Biden is incompetent to run, he is also incompetent to serve.
And while Biden does not endorse a successor, he does make a point of saying that “I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work.” Which is probably one of the less sincere comments in his letter.
While obviously not unexpected, this is a dramatic development. For the Democrats, it will be critical to get a new nominee in place as soon as possible, and with as little chaos as possible. They need to get past the horrific ordeal they have experienced since June 27, and I don’t see how they can do that other than by uniting around Harris. That said, I hope they have a knock down, drag out battle for the nomination.
UPDATE: While he didn’t endorse Harris in his letter, Biden has endorsed her on Twitter:
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
Too bad. I suspect this is a sign that the leaders of the Democratic Party are orchestrating a rapid coalescence behind Harris so that their convention will be her coronation.
