By: Matthew Wang
In a surprise statement on July 21, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his plans to drop his bid for re-election, choosing instead to throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden’s last minute change of heart comes at an unprecedented time, leaving his preferred nominee a matter of weeks to gather support to win the Democratic presidential nomination..
Facing pressure from fellow Democrats after his failed debate performance on June 27, 2024, Biden’s announcement comes at a trying time as day by day, his once closest supporters slowly turn against him. In a letter posted onto his social media, he writes that “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it had been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Due to the short notice of this decision, Vice President Kamala Harris would have just a matter of weeks to consolidate support in order to challenge the Republican party nominee come November 2024.
According to The New York Times, several of Biden’s opponents appeared to back Vice President Harris, with the source stating, “Although some Democrats have called for an open competition, Ms. Harris starts the truncated process in the strongest position. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, previously seen as a possible candidate, instead endorsed her. An ally of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan indicated that she would not run. No other candidate said on Sunday that they would jump in.”
The Republican party responded to this last-minute change with caustic remarks with many members calling for the removal of President Biden from office and a refund for the money Republicans spent campaigning against President Biden. On social media, former president Trump made several chiding remarks, claiming that “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was.” Additionally, this rapid change in leadership has also resulted in a different approach from the Republicans, choosing to abandon their attacks on Biden’s age to instead attack the Democrats’ handling of the southern US border.
As the race draws closer, Vice President Kamala Harris appears to be more than capable of contesting in the November elections. According to a New York Times/Siena College poll, Vice President Harris appeared to be competing neck and neck with former President Donald Trump. Additionally, Vice President Harris had been swamped with donations, gaining 126 million in the first 2 days according to CNN, showing her popularity amongst voters. However, only time will tell whether this will be enough to secure her the win in the quickly approaching November elections.