1/ Following intense pressure from nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress to withdraw from the race after his shaky June debate performance, Biden ended his presidential re-election campaign and endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominee. “While it has 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,” Biden said in a statement, offering his “full support and endorsement” to Harris. “It’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.” Biden is the first president in more than half a century not to seek reelection, and is the first sitting president and presumptive nominee to drop out of the race so late in the election cycle – four months before Election Day and less than a month before the Democratic National Convention, set to start Aug. 19. The 81-year-old exits the race days after Republicans formally nominated Trump for the third time. With the primaries over, the nomination is no longer in the hands of voters, but instead left to the 3,939 delegates who will be free to support another candidate at the Democrats’ national party convention next month despite Biden’s endorsement of Harris as his successor. Harris thanked Biden for his leadership, and said her “intention is to earn and win” the Democratic presidential nomination. Recent polls show Harris to be more competitive with Trump in Pennsylvania and Virginia – two crucial swing states for Democrats. And, internal polls also show that Harris would be more helpful to boosting Democratic enthusiasm and aiding down ballot races. Biden, who continues to recover from Covid-19 at his beach house in Delaware, said he’d “speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.” Biden also said he plans to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends at noon ET on Jan. 20, 2025. (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Bloomberg / Politico / CNN / CNBC / NPR / CBS News / ABC News / Axios / Wall Street Journal)
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2024/07/21/day-1279/