US President Joe Biden has announced his withdrawal from the presidential election race, after which it is believed that Vice President Kamala Harris will face Republican candidate Donald Trump. Biden finally announced his withdrawal from the election field after increasing pressure from his party leaders, donors and family, and with this, he has approved the name of Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party. Joe Biden has recommended the name of Kamala Harris (59) of Indian-African origin at a time when Democratic Party leaders were pressuring him (Biden) to withdraw from the race for the last several weeks after his poor performance in the debate with his Republican rival and former President of the country Donald Trump in late June.
In a post on 'X', Biden said, “Today I want to give my full support and cooperation to make Kamala Harris our party's candidate this year. It is time for the Democratic Party to unite and defeat Trump.” Announcing his withdrawal from the presidential candidacy race, Biden said that “this is in the best interest of my party and the country.” Biden's (81) decision has come four months before the November 5 voting in the US.
Joe Biden's statement
In a message to Americans in a post on social media, Biden said, “Serving as your President has been the greatest honor of my life. I have always intended to contest re-election, but I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country that I withdraw from this race and focus on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” Let us tell you that President Biden is currently in isolation at his Delaware residence after being infected with Kovid-19. Biden said that he will tell the country in more detail about his decision later this week.
Biden said, “For now I want to express my deep gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me re-elected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. I want to express my gratitude to the American people, who have placed so much faith and trust in me.” Biden said in his letter, “In the last three and a half years, we have made great progress as a nation. Today, America's economy is the strongest in the world. We have made historic investments in reducing drug costs for seniors and expanding affordable healthcare for American citizens.” Biden said that his administration also passed the first 'Gun Safety Law' in 30 years. He also said that his administration passed the most important climate law in the history of the world.
The President said, “I know none of this would have been possible without you, the American people. Together, we have overcome a once-in-a-century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We have protected and preserved our democracy, and we have nurtured and strengthened our alliances around the world.” President Biden thanked US Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her an “extraordinary partner”.
Kamala Harris's happiness knows no bounds
Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris, happy with Biden's support, has said that she is honored that Joe Biden recommended her name for the Democratic Party's candidacy in the presidential election. Kamala said that her goal is to unite the country to defeat former President “Donald Trump and his 'Project 2025 agenda'”. Kamala said, “I am honored to have the President's support. My goal now is to win the presidential candidacy race.” Let us tell you that Kamala has been serving as Vice President since January 2021. She is the first woman, first black and first South Asian citizen of America to hold this post.
Biden's recommendation has given a big boost to Kamala's claim as the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, but it is necessary for her to get the support of the party delegates during the 'Democratic National Convention' proposed next month in Chicago. Kamala said, “I want to thank Biden on behalf of the people of America for his extraordinary leadership as President and for serving our country for many decades.” She said that last year she traveled across the country and learned from the Americans about their favorite candidate and their expectations from him in this important election. Kamala said, “And I will continue to do the same in the coming days and weeks. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party and our country, to defeat Donald Trump and his controversial 'Project 2025 agenda'… There are still 107 days left for the election. We will fight together. We will win together.”
Statement by the Clintons
Let us tell you that former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have also lobbied for Kamala's name for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Clinton couple said in a joint statement, “We have seen many ups and downs, but nothing has worried us more than the threat posed to our country by Trump's second term.” The statement said, “He (Trump) has promised to become a dictator from day one and the recent decision of the 'Supreme Court' will give him the courage to further dismantle the Constitution. Now the time has come for us to support Kamala Harris and do everything possible to make her the President.''
Statement by Barack Obama
On the other hand, former US President Barack Obama and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi have praised President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race. However, both leaders refrained from immediately endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' name as the Democratic Party's candidate for the presidential elections to be held on November 5. Former President Obama said in a statement, “In the days to come, we will go through unknown paths, but I am confident that our party leaders will be able to create a process that will produce an excellent candidate.”
Donald Trump's response
On the other hand, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump targeted outgoing President Joe Biden for suddenly withdrawing from the presidential election race and claimed that “everyone around Biden, including his doctor, knew that he was not fit to contest the presidential election or become President.” Trump made this comment when Biden (81) surprised everyone by announcing that he was withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsed the name of Indian-African-origin Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential nomination from the Democratic Party. Donald Trump also expressed doubts about Biden being infected with Covid-19. He said in a post on his social media platform “Truth Social”, “So now we are forced to spend time and money to fight crooked Joe Biden, who withdrew from the election field after a disappointing performance in the debate. Now we have to start all over again. The former president said, “Shouldn't the Republican Party compensate for the fraud that everyone around Joe Biden, including his doctor and the fake media, knew that he was not in the race to contest the presidential election or become president? Just asking.” Trump said that his debate with Biden was to be broadcast on 'ABC News' in September. He called Biden the “worst” president in the history of America. Trump said, “Now that Biden has dropped out of the race, I think the debate should have been broadcast on 'Fox News' instead of biased ABC.”
In another post, Trump (78) said, “Does anyone really think Crooked Joe Biden had COVID? No, he wanted to withdraw since debate night on June 27 when he was completely demolished.” He said, “That was a big moment towards the end of Joe Biden. Joe Biden is not fit to be president. He is ruining our country.” Let us tell you that Biden was found infected with COVID-19 on July 17. After this, he had to stop campaigning at a crucial time when pressure was mounting on him to give up the presidential candidacy amid ongoing speculation about his health.
At the same time, House Speaker Mike Johnson urged President Biden to resign from his post. Republican leader Mike Johnson said, “If Joe Biden is not eligible to contest for the presidency, then he is not eligible to continue serving as president. He should resign from his post immediately.”
Trump campaign statement
Meanwhile, the campaign team of Republican Party's candidate for the US presidential election, Donald Trump, has said that Vice President Kamala Harris is also a “laughing stock like President Joe Biden”. Trump's campaign team issued a statement saying, “Kamala Harris is also a laughing stock like Biden. Harris will prove to be even more incompetent for the people of our country than Joe Biden.” It said, “They are partners in each other's past work and there is no difference between the two. Harris should defend the failed Biden administration and her record of liberal and weak action against crime in California.” The campaign team criticized Biden's policies and called the President a “big cheater and a disgrace to the country”. It alleged that Biden has been “weak, pathetic and incompetent” as a leader and “allowed” 13 American soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan, which “started a chain reaction that led to (Russian President) Putin invading Ukraine and Hamas terrorists attacking Israel.” “Leaders around the world are laughing at us,” the campaign team said. “And during this entire tenure, Kamala Harris, along with every leader of the Democratic Party in Washington, sat quietly and did nothing. They are all as complicit as Biden in the destruction of our great nation and they should all be removed from office,” it said.
What will be new this time?
Now that Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee, it will be up to the delegates at the Democratic National Convention to finally formally select his party's new nominee. This will be the first time in more than 50 years that a major party's nominee will be chosen outside the democratic process of primaries and caucuses.
