Even before his campaign ended Sunday afternoon, a group of former President Obama’s allies and ex-advisers were leading the call for President Biden to step down from the 2024 contest.
After weeks of mounting demands from traditional Democrat constituency groups, Biden pulled the plug on his 2024 bid. His poor debate performance against former President Trump last month did nothing to assuage those fears, and only underscored worries about his mental acuity as he moved deep into middle age at 81.
After dropping out of the race on Sunday afternoon, Biden posted a message to X: “My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden posted on X after he dropped out of the race on Sunday afternoon.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” he said in a separate social media post.
Prominent voices urging Biden to quit include allies of Obama, such as his ex-adviser David Axelrod, who opined recently that Biden is “not winning this race.” Biden was former President Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017.
“There are certain immutable facts of life,” Axelrod said in an interview with CNN while discussing Biden’s age and leadership. “Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race.”
Shortly after, actor George Clooney made his stance public.
“It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,” Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Barack Obama, who stayed largely mum while Biden mulled over his choices in recent weeks defended President Biden after rocky debate performances but did not address media reports that he was coaxing Biden to exit behind-the-scenes.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November,” he posted on X at the time.
However, earlier this month, Nancy Pelosi hinted that Biden may not have final say on his commitment to remain in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said this month on MSNBC. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
Shortly after Biden made his announcement, Republicans called for him to vacate the office of presidency, alleging that if he is ineligible to mount a re-election bid then he would be unable to discharge all presidential duties throughout the rest of their term.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said in a statement on Sunday.
