Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
23-07-2024
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden withdraws from the presidential race, saying it’s “in the best interest of my party and the country” but will stay on for the final six months of his term.
He endorses Kamala Harris, his vice-president, to be the new Democratic nominee.
Harris says she intends to “earn and win” the nomination and do “everything in my power to… unite our nation to defeat Donald Trump.”
A slew of senior Democrats including Gavin Newsom and Pete Buttigieg, who were both tipped as potential replacements have also thrown their support behind Harris.
Biden, 81, faced increasing calls to step aside since a faltering debate performance against Trump last month.
First Lady Jill Biden was supportive of her husband “whatever road he chose” and remains his “biggest believer”, her spokeswoman tells media.
Leading Democrats have swiftly begun supporting Kamala Harris as the pick to replace President Joe Biden as the 2024 presidential nominee. Here’s what some are saying; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren says Harris is “ready to step up” and asks “who better than a former prosecutor” to take on a “convicted felon” like Trump?
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg who ran for President in 2020 and was considered a potential replacement for Biden himself praises Harris, saying she’s the person to “take up the torch [and] defeat Donald Trump”.
Harris also earns the endorsement of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who ran against Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and says the current vice-president will “bring us together to win”.
Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper whose name has been thrown around as a potential VP pick for Harris, if she becomes the Democratic candidate – says Harris “has what it takes”.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often called AOC, echoes this writing on X that Harris “will be the next president of the United States”.
Earlier, California Governor Gavin Newsom another person previously touted as a potential replacement for Biden threw his support behind Harris too, describing her as “tough, fearless, and tenacious”.
oe Biden’s senior White House and campaign staff had spent the past week insisting the president planned to stay in the 2024 race, despite an onslaught of calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside.
As recently as Saturday, the president’s aides were putting together a campaign schedule for him to pick up upon his return to the White House next week. He had been recovering from COVID at his beach house on the eastern shores of Delaware, insisting he was still running but infuriated as a coordinated effort to pressure him to exit by some Democrats began to spill into public view.
By Sunday morning, the president had changed his mind.
He separately called his chief-of-staff Jeff Zients, his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Vice-President Kamala Harris to inform them of his decision to drop out, sources familiar with how the events of Sunday unfolded tell me.
So much has been made about the ages of Joe Biden and Donald Trump and how it’s off putting for voters.
That focus was much more on 81-year old Biden whose gaffes, stumbles and mistakes were pointed out especially in the weeks since the presidential debate.
Donald Trump, 78, will now own the unwanted title of ‘oldest nominee in presidential history’ and inherits the age issue from Biden as he withdraws from the race for the White House.
Presumably that’s exactly what the Democratic Party will want. (Int’l News Desk)
