North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) issued a statement endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be “the next President,” hours after President Joe Biden announced that he would not be seeking reelection.
Cooper highlighted that he knew Harris “going back” to their days serving as Attorneys General, adding that she has “what it takes to defeat” former President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election.
“Kamala Harris should be the next President,” Cooper wrote. “I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”
Cooper’s statement endorsing Harris for president comes hours after Biden issued a statement that “it is in the best interest” of the Democratic Party and the country for him “to stand down” from seeking another term as president.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in his statement. “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.”
In a separate post, Biden wrote that he wanted “to offer” his “full support and endorsement” for Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee for our party this year,” Biden wrote. “Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Since Biden’s announcement that he was exiting the presidential race, several Democrats such as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) have issued statements endorsing Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee.