Joe Biden Bows to Democrats Who Wanted Him Out, Upending US Politics

Joe Biden Bows to Democrats Who Wanted Him Out, Upending US Politics

Passing the baton to Kamala Harris is a $96 million bet that she can energize the campaign in the shortest presidential race in history.

Joe Biden has plunged the presidential election into uncharted territory with his decision to drop out of the race, a move without precedent in the modern era of US politics.

The 81-year-old became the first president in more than half a century not to seek reelection, quitting the 2024 presidential contest on Sunday and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, to be the Democratic nominee to take on Donald Trump in an election that’s less than four months away.

Biden’s exit went from seemingly unimaginable in June to all but inevitable this weekend. The stunning reversal was borne of Democratic lawmakers, donors and voters turning on a once-beloved, five-decade party stalwart who they came to fear could not vanquish Trump at the ballot box. And even as many Democrats welcomed Biden’s decision, it thrust the party into a moment of extraordinary uncertainty, one that by no means guarantees they’ll keep the White House in November.

Polls have recently shown Trump’s lead growing, especially after the Republican candidate was grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. As some top Democrats endorsed Harris, the party’s national committee promised a “transparent and orderly process” to nominate a new candidate. Others from within the fractured party could still challenge her.

After a week that shook American politics, the Democrats are about to do something no party has done since primaries and caucuses replaced smoke-filled rooms as the method of selecting presidential nominees. By jettisoning a candidate who had already clinched the nomination, they’re gambling that a new ticket will energize a race that had until lately seemed a numbing repeat of the past.

Biden won 99% of the pledged delegates in the primaries and caucuses and they’re bound under party rules to “in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” Harris’s team was already contacting delegates Sunday to win them over to her side, according to people familiar with the effort. The Democratic National Convention starts Aug. 19.

The vice president has the advantage of being able to tap the $96 million already raised for the Biden/Harris campaign. Prominent Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as major donors, came out in support of her.

Financial markets, which had been adapting in recent weeks to growing expectations of a Trump victory, braced for new uncertainty from a potentially more competitive race.

Trump and leading Republicans immediately denounced Biden’s move; Mike Johnson, speaker of the House of Representatives, called on Biden to resign the presidency, as well.

The president—who said he would focus now on finishing his term—is quitting the race after rejecting calls for months to drop his bid in favor of a younger candidate. Those appeals grew stronger following a catastrophic debate performance in late June that catalyzed fears among Democratic leaders, donors and voters that he wasn’t up to the challenge of beating Trump and serving another term. Then a case of Covid-19 forced him off the campaign trail at a critical time.

Adding to the tension, Biden lost one of his key advantages from the beginning of the year—money. Donors backed out, just as the assassination attempt drew a flood of new contributions to Trump. His beleaguered campaign entered July with $96 million cash on hand, after a spending spree last month that depleted about 93% of the money it raised in June, according to official filings.

By Saturday night at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, Biden and his closest family members were coming to the momentous decision as the pressure mounted. Some of the president's inner circle—Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, Steve Ricchetti, and Mike Donilon—were among the staff with Biden as he deliberated. As the evening drew to a close, the campaign was told to proceed full steam ahead— though Biden had begun to consider his exit.

By Sunday morning, the decision had been made, according to people familiar with the situation. Biden placed separate phone calls to Harris, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, and campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon to inform them of their decision. He drafted a letter explaining his reasoning with his team in Rehoboth.


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