President Joe Biden announced that he has apparently caved to outside pressure and is ending his reelection campaign, less than a month after the rumbles began following his poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump, the latter of whom survived an assassination attempt last Saturday.
Biden wrote in a letter, “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And 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.”
Reactions are pouring in.
Some, like Trump’s running mate Sen. JD Vance, as well Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, called on Biden to step down as president altogether.
“Not fit to run for president, not fit to serve as president,” Sanders said. “Biden should resign immediately.”
“If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify remaining President? Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was right all along about Biden not being mentally fit enough to serve as Commander-in-Chief. There is no middle ground,” Vance said, notably, prior to Biden’s announcement Sunday:
“The reason Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race is so the Democrats can cheat. With Biden, a win—even with cheating—was no longer believable,” Liz Wheeler said. “Now they’ll trot out a charismatic, young, ‘moderate’ candidate so they can cheat. Mark my words.”
California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom praised Biden, asserting that he will “go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.”
Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) also praised Biden.
“We owe President Biden a debt of gratitude that we may never be able to repay,” he said. “We may not know what comes next, but by passing the torch to a new standard bearer, President Biden has again given us the chance to beat Donald Trump and give our children the future they deserve.”
But others were saying Biden’s decision is a clear testament to the mere strength of Trump.
“Have you ever seen a politician so strong and talented he made his opponent quit in the middle of the race? I have: Donald J. Trump,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said.
Other Republicans mocked Democrats.
“Now the Democrats are rigging their *own* elections,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said.
“The inevitable is now a reality — Biden dropping out — will chaos consume the Democrats party?” Sen. Rand Pau (R-KY) asked.
“We’re not running against a candidate. We’re running against a system,” Vivek Ramaswamy observed as other reactions poured in:
This story is developing.