US President Joe Biden on Sunday endorsed US vice-president Kamala Harris as his replacement shortly after dropping out of the US presidential race.
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. 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… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
Kamala Harris vowed to win the Democratic Party’s nomination and ‘defeat Donald Trump’ and praised Biden’s ‘selfless and patriotic act’ in dropping his reelection bid.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” she said in a statement.
“I am honored to have the president’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination…. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump.”
A rocky start in the job and poor polling numbers will also pose a challenge for Kamala Harris who was already at the top of the list to replace Biden who faced calls from over three dozen top members of his own party to drop out of the White House race.
If Harris emerges as the nominee, the move would represent an unprecedented gamble by the Democratic Party: its first Black and Indian-American woman to run for the White House in a country that has elected one Black president and never a woman president in more than two centuries.
Kamala Harris would become the US presidential candidate if the 4,000 Democratic delegates that Joe Biden accrued by winning primary elections in US states and territories vote for her at the Democratic National Convention that is set to take place Aug. 19-22.
It was unclear whether other senior Democrats would challenge Harris for the party’s nomination – she was widely seen as the pick for many party officials – or whether the party itself would choose to open the field for nominations.
Trump, His Son Takes Aim At Harris
Donald Trump, who earlier spoke to broadcaster CNN and said that he feels it will be easier to defeat Kamala Harris.
“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!!!” Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr, said in a post on social media site X.
In more than two centuries of democracy, American voters have elected only one Black president and never a woman, a record that makes even some Black voters wonder if Harris can crash through the hardest ceiling in US politics.
Harris would face other big challenges: if promoted to the top of the ticket, she would have barely three months to campaign and unite the party and donors behind her. But many Democrats are excited about her chances.
Harris, 59, is two decades younger than Trump and a leader in the party on abortion rights, an issue which resonates with younger voters and Democrats’ progressive base. Proponents argue she would energize those voters, consolidate Black support, and bring sharp debating skills to prosecute the political case against the former president.
Harris’s approval ratings, while low, are a tick higher than Biden’s. According to polling outfit Five Thirty Eight, 38.6 percent of Americans approve of Harris while 50.4 percent disapprove. Biden has 38.5 percent approval and 56.2 percent disapproval.
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