With less than four months until the 2024 U.S. presidential election, one of the likely candidates has thrown in the towel.
On July 21, U.S. President Joe Biden announced he’d be pulling out of the race, and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris as the new candidate.
The announcement comes after weeks of calls for Biden to step down following what the Associated Press and others have called a “disastrous” debate performance in late June.
“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,” said Biden in a letter posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Despite Biden’s endorsement, there is no guarantee that Harris will be the Democrats’ new candidate in what both parties describe as the most important presidential election in generations.
What led to this?
Although Biden has not said exactly why he stepped down, the announcement follows weeks of Democrats calling him unfit to run after his June 27 debate with Donald Trump.
In that debate, Biden often trailed off, was difficult to understand, and failed to call out many of Trump’s lies.
However, other Democrats wanted him to stay on, warning that it was too late in the campaign to switch candidates.
A party’s expected nominee has never stepped down this close to an election, according to the Associated Press. The election is on Nov. 5.
Kamala Harris endorsement
Just 30 minutes after stepping down, Biden endorsed Harris as the new nominee.
In a statement, Harris praised Biden’s “selfless and patriotic act” and said she hopes to earn her party’s nomination.
In order to be the Democrats’ official candidate, Harris has to win the most votes from party members called “delegates” at the Democratic National Convention, which starts on Aug. 19.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and other leading Democrats also rallied behind Harris following Biden’s endorsement.
But not everyone was quick to pledge their support — former U.S. president Barack Obama praised Biden for stepping down, but stopped short of a Harris endorsement.
“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” he said in a statement.
Other Democrats could still pop up in the coming weeks to run for the party’s nomination.
But Harris has a big advantage: as Biden’s running mate in the election, she’s the only candidate who is allowed to access his campaign funds, according to federal campaign finance rules.
What’s next?
Biden said he’ll address the public later this week to give more details about his resignation from the race.
Democrats don’t have much time to convince voters that their new nominee can beat Trump in November.
But the Trump campaign will also have to do some scrambling — after years of developing a campaign strategy focused on Biden as their opponent, they will have to figure out a new approach to a new opponent heading into voting day.
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