Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the US presidential candidacy is a political earthquake that gives Democrats hope. Now many are pinning their hopes on Kamala Harris.
Following US President Joe Biden’s historic withdrawal from the race for another term, more and more US Democrats are rallying behind his deputy Kamala Harris. The 59-year-old is currently considered her party’s most promising candidate for the election on November 5. She has received public support from Biden and numerous other party leaders and must now be nominated by her party. Whether the party follows Biden’s proposal will be decided at the Democratic Party’s nominating convention from August 19 to 22 in Chicago.
With Biden’s withdrawal, the US election campaign is gaining new momentum a good three months before election day. The camp around the newly elected Republican candidate, Donald Trump, reacted angrily to Biden’s withdrawal. At the same time, Trump and his running mate JD Vance are also using Biden’s public admission to question his suitability as incumbent president.
Demonstrative unity for Harris
After Biden pledged his full support to his vice president, a number of other party bigwigs quickly came out in favor of her – including governors Gavin Newsom (California), Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) and Roy Cooper (North Carolina), who were also considered possible candidates.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also backed Harris. As a long-serving congresswoman, the 84-year-old continues to have great influence within her own party – in the debate about Biden’s suitability for a second term, Pelosi was considered an important puppet master. The support of the top Democrat is therefore important for Harris.
Harris received support from the left wing of the party from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Vice President also does not have to fear competition from the influential Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, after she stepped down. Former President Barack Obama, on the other hand, only spoke of his confidence that “an outstanding candidate” would be found. In his statement, he did not say a word about Harris.
In any case, Harris is likely to start the election campaign well equipped financially: The fundraising platform ActBlue, which is close to the Democrats, reported record donations on Sunday evening (local time) shortly after her intended candidacy was announced. According to the report, around 50 million US dollars (around 46 million euros) were collected within a few hours. According to the New York Times, Sunday was the biggest day for online donations for the Democrats since the presidential election in 2020.
It remains to be seen whether Harris can beat Trump. Many Democrats hope that Harris can at least prevent the Republicans from controlling both chambers of the US Parliament. This is because all seats in the House of Representatives and around a third of the seats in the Senate will be reallocated in the election in the fall.
Trump fumes and questions Biden’s suitability for office
Trump expressed his anger after Biden’s withdrawal and made several posts in a row on his online platform Truth Social. His team had invested time and money in “the fight against the fraudulent Joe Biden.” “Now we have to start all over again,” Trump wrote.
“Corrupt Joe Biden was incapable of running for president and he certainly is incapable of holding the office – and never was!” he wrote. In another post, he quipped: “It’s a new day and Joe Biden doesn’t remember dropping out of the race yesterday!”
The 78-year-old was officially chosen as his party’s candidate at the Republican convention in Milwaukee last week, as was Vance as his running mate. At the convention, after the assassination attempt on him, Trump portrayed himself as a politician who had been changed by the shooting and who now wanted to unite the deeply divided country.
Trump is 18 years and four months older than Harris. With Biden’s withdrawal, Trump is the oldest presidential candidate in US history.
The crisis of the past few weeks
Since Biden’s disastrous performance in a televised debate against Trump, criticism of his age had grown. During the exchange, the most powerful man in the world had regularly stumbled over his words. He lost his train of thought, stared into space with his mouth open and was often unable to finish his sentences properly.
Biden himself initially tried to talk his way out of it. He attributed his weak performance to fatigue as a result of strenuous trips abroad. At various appearances, he defiantly assured that he would not withdraw. But more blunders followed. In the end, the pressure from his own ranks became too great.
In recent days, Biden had retreated to his private home in Rehoboth, Delaware, after being infected with the coronavirus and had not attended any public events. During his forced break, he now decided to bow to pressure from his party colleagues.
Respect for Biden
Leading Democrats and heads of state and government from around the world praised Biden for the significant step.
The leading Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, praised Biden as a great president and a remarkable person. “His decision was certainly not easy, but he has once again put his country, his party and our future first,” the senator wrote in a statement. Today shows that Biden is “a true patriot and a great American.”
First Lady Jill Biden (73) commented on her husband’s withdrawal with two hearts on Platform X.
An election year like no other
Even before this greatest possible complication, this US election year was one that stood out on all levels, especially with regard to the Republican candidate. Trump is a convicted criminal running for the highest office in the state. He is the first ex-president of the USA to be found guilty in a criminal case – for concealing a hush money payment to a porn actress. This has not harmed the 78-year-old in the election campaign so far. There are other criminal proceedings against him – but these cases are unlikely to go to trial before election day.
The election campaign escalated a week ago when a gunman opened fire at a Trump event in Pennsylvania. Trump was injured in the ear in the attack, a spectator was killed and two others were wounded.
The most recent US election year in 2020 was already chaotic. Trump did not accept his election defeat against Biden at the time, but tried to reverse the election result using drastic means. His campaign culminated in a violent attack by his supporters on the US Capitol in which several people were killed.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
