Kamala Harris frontrunner for Democrats to challenge Trump as Biden quits race

Kamala Harris is vying to become the first female president of the US - and the first woman of colour

Kamala Harris is now the frontrunner to take on Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her following weeks of pressure on him to step aside.

In the hours since Biden announced he was quitting his reelection campaign and Harris confirmed she will run to replace him on top of the ticket, donors have returned to the party in their droves and a string of top Democratic lawmakers and influential figures have thrown their support behind the vice president.

Though Harris is yet to be officially crowned the presidential nominee, the Biden-Harris campaign has already amended its filings with the Federal Election Commission to declare her as its chosen candidate – a move that will allow her to tap into the campaign’s war chest.

However former president Barack Obama has yet to formally endorse Harris.

After weeks of pressure from Democratic Party insiders and plummeting poll numbers, Biden finally announced on Sunday that he was bowing out from his efforts to secure a second term in the White House.

The announcement came less than a month after the president’s disastrous debate performance in Atlanta, which led to some Democrats to call for his exit. It also dovetails the conclusion of the Republican National Convention, when the Republican Party made a strong show of unity behind former president Donald Trump after the former president was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Biden made the announcement in a letter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, becoming the first president in 56 years to call off a re-election campaign.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” he said. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

He also endorsed Harris to receive the Democratic nomination for president, likely to stave off a contested convention when the Democrats convene in Chicago next month.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he said. “ Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Biden announced his decision to bow out from efforts to seek a second term in a letter posted to X. He wrote: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.” (via REUTERS)

Harris responded in her own statement, calling her service with Joe Biden for nearly four years “a profound honor”.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win,” said Biden’s former running mate.

Biden’s decision to throw his support to his vice president kicked off a show of unified support from Democrats in Congress and within the administration, though some members of the party stopped short of formally endorsing her.

The president has not yet officially released his delegates to next month’s convention, leading Obama to say in a statement that the party will be in “uncharted waters.”

Obama added that he has “extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

Biden, pictured at the Nato summit in July 2024, announced his decision not to bow out of his re-election campaign after weeks of intense pressure from Democrats (Getty Images)

Numerous Democrats, including numerous Democrats in swing districts and frontline swing states, had called on Biden to step aside, with many questioning his ability to beat Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who served with Biden for many years in the Senate and was the main executor of his agenda in Congress, praised Biden’s decision.

“Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader but he is a truly amazing human being,” he said. “His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first. Joe, today shows you are a true patriot and great American.”

House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also commended Biden in his decision to step aside.

“In less than one term, he rescued the nation from a once-in-a-century pandemic, brought the economy roaring back from the brink of recession, enacted consequential legislation for everyday Americans and saved our democracy by defeating the Insurrectionist-in-Chief,” he said in a statement. “America is a better place today because President Joe Biden has led us with intellect, grace and dignity. We are forever grateful.”

But some Democrats--including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the progressive vanguard--had warned about muscling Biden out too quickly and said the same forces who wanted to push out Biden did not want Harris.

The move comes less than a month before Democrats will convene to nominate their candidate for president in Chicago. Numerous Democrats had discussed how they planned to replace Biden at the top of the ticket to make sure that voters felt their voices were heard.

But Republican Senators immediately began to rail against the idea that Biden could be replaced at the top of the ticket.

“Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson also blasted Harris in his remarks.

“As second in command and a completely inept border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice — not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security, and prosperity, but also in the largest political coverup in U.S. history,” he added. “She has known for as long as anyone of his incapacity to serve.”

Biden said he would speak later to explain his decision. The move comes as Biden, 81, faced numerous questions about his capacity to govern as the oldest person to ever occupy the White House and the oldest ever presidential candidate in either major party’s history.

His decision to step aside bookends a career of more than 50 years in public life, beginning with his first upset Senate race in Delaware in 1972, which led to 36 years in the United States Senate, where he served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees and earned a reputation as a consensus builder both within the Democratic Party and with Republicans.

Biden first ran for president in 1987 but dropped out before the contests of 1988 began under accusations of plagiarism. In 2008, he dropped out after barely registering in the Iowa Caucuses before Barack Obama selected him to be his running mate. During that time, he began Obama’s chief negotiator on Capitol Hill and point person on foreign policy.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, he served as Obama’s main champion for speaking about the economy and revived Obama’s campaign after Obama himself posted a poor debate performance against Mitt Romney. But the death of his son Beau Biden and Obama’s not-so-veiled desire for Hillary Clinton to succeed him led to him deciding not to run.

In 2019, he announced his decision to run and consistently led Trump in the polls, which led to him overwhelmingly winning the Democratic nomination thanks to the support of African-American voters and leaders.

But ever since his decision to run again in 2023, he consistently trailed Trump in the polls as many voters questioned whether his advanced age prevented him from doing the job.

During the RNC last week, Biden returned from campaigning in Nevada after he tested positive for Covid-19, while campaigning in Nevada.

Now the man who was too young to be sworn in as a senator when he won his first race faces a party that feared his age would prevent him from mounting a strong enough campaign against Trump.

He leaves as a president who had some of the most legislative accomplishments as Lyndon Johnson. But like Johnson, another lion of the Senate, he finally saw his journey come to an end thanks to public opinion.