The News
US President Joe Biden announced Sunday he will not seek reelection and threw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic nominee. Harris said in a statement that she was “honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Biden and Harris spoke multiple times earlier Sunday before his announcement, according to a person familiar with their talks.
Biden’s decision puts the party in uncharted territory; it must either coalesce around Harris or find a new nominee before the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19.
Several Democratic lawmakers had already publicly said they would support Harris if Biden were to step aside, and the political backlash if the party skipped her for the nomination would likely be swift.
“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,” Biden said in a post on X. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
Harris’ proponents argue that she’s positioned to energize young voters and people of color. She made history as the first woman, Black American, and South Asian American to be vice president. If elected, she would be the nation’s first woman president.
She will face the stark political test of moving to the top of the ticket so close to the election, as well as the challenges of racism and sexism. But early polling shows Harris competitive against Trump: In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, she ran ahead of Biden, tying Trump with 44% support each in a Reuters/Ipsos poll.