Leading Democrats, who have continuously charged that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, succeeded to remove duly nominated Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential ticket. Meanwhile, Republican critics are asking why he is continuing to occupy the White House if he is not up to running for re-election.
“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 to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a letter posted on X that did not carry the presidential seal. “I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”
During his campaign rally on Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, GOP candidate Donald Trump lampooned what appeared to be a coup-in-progress while all but predicting Biden would not be the Democrat nominee:
"There's never been anything like it, and now we have something coming up where they're going to go to the convention and they have a couple of problems: No. 1, they have no idea who their candidate is and neither do we," Trump said. "That's a problem. But we'll see. Hopefully they get it worked out. Sort of interesting: This guy goes and he gets the votes and now they want to take it away. That's democracy. They talk about democracy. Let's take it away from them."
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote:
Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was! He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement. All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t - And now, look what he’s done to our Country, with millions of people coming across our Border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists. We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!Trump told Fox News Digital on Sunday: "He is not fit to serve. And I ask — who is going to be running the country for the next five months?"
House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement: "At this unprecedented juncture in American history, we must be clear about what just happened. The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election."
Johnson added: "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."
Human Events editor Jack Posobiec noted in a social media post: "If Joe Biden is not well enough to run, he is not well enough to be president. This is still a national security crisis and since the debate it has only gotten worse. Assassins are killing American citizens at political rallies and shooting at nominees on Biden's watch."
Said WMAL and Newxmax host Chris Plante: "The Politburo of the Democrat Party will decide who will be on their ticket and they decide where the money goes. Remember: laws and rules do not apply to them. The Obama-led Politburo will do as it wishes and then they will tell you what they have decided."
Even before Sunday’s announcement by Biden, some were calling for him to step down from the presidency if he stepped aside from the nomination.
Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. JD Vance posted on X before Biden’s announcement: “If Joe Biden ends his re-election campaign, how can he justify remaining President?”
New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik said prior to Biden's announcement: “If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign.”
In a later post, Biden endorsed Harris.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” Biden posted. “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.”
Hillary Clinton immediately ended speculation that she would come back to be the Democrat standard bearer by endorsing Harris.
Donald Trump Jr. slammed Harris, saying in a post to X: "Kamala Harris owns the entire leftwing policy record of Joe Biden. The only difference is that she is even more liberal and less competent than Joe, which is really saying something. She was put in charge of the border and we saw the worst invasion of illegals in our history!!!"
Democrat megadonor Alex Soros, son of globalist billionaire George Soros, is backing Harris.
"It’s time for us all to unite around Kamala Harris and beat Donald Trump. She is the best and most qualified candidate we have. Long live the American Dream!"
Politico reported that a Democrat pollster has circulated a memo saying that California Gov. Gaven Newsom would be the Democrats' best bet because he has higher favorability ratings than Biden and Harris.
“While the future remains unpredictable and there may not be an opportunity for [Newsom] to run this election, nevertheless we thought it would be helpful if you had relevant data along with key talking points to be able to make the case that Newsom can win should such an opportunity present itself,” Ben Tulchin wrote in the memo.
The satire site Babylon Bee again neared "not satire" territory, with the headline: "Jill Biden Drops Out Of Presidential Race".
The Bee wrote:
Jill Biden has formally dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, she announced today at a press conference that was supposed to be for her husband. "I cannot in good conscience continue," the acting president said as her husband wandered around somewhere backstage. Jill Biden said she would not seek a second term because she was tired of everyone thinking her husband was the real president. "He's a skeleton in a skin suit that has been reanimated by dark magicks to nod and smile at people. Frankly, I'm insulted no one has caught on that I'm the actual president," she complained. "I'm tired of him getting all the glory!"
