Late on Sunday night India time, President Joe Biden announced he was pulling out of the race for the White House, bowing to the increasingly loud clamour within his party to do so. It is pertinent to note that Biden who at 81 is the oldest person ever to have occupied the Oval Office. He would remain in the presidency until his term ended on January 20, 2025, and would address the nation this week.
Joe Biden Withdraws From Presidential Race
Why In News
- Late on Sunday night India time, President Joe Biden announced he was pulling out of the race for the White House, bowing to the increasingly loud clamour within his party to do so.
Why Is Biden Quitting
- It is pertinent to note that Biden who at 81 is the oldest person ever to have occupied the Oval Office. He would remain in the presidency until his term ended on January 20, 2025, and would address the nation this week.
- Last week, the US President has not been seen in public since testing positive for COVID-19 last week and was isolated at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
- The move dramatically reshapes a White House contest that has been shaken repeatedly in the last month. Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate performance drove his fellow Democrats to urge him to drop out.
- On July 13, a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Trump, 78. And last week Trump named hardline Republican US Senator JD Vance, 39, to serve as his vice presidential running mate.
- Shortly after Joe Biden’s announcement, Trump said, “Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been.”
- “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,” Harris said in a statement.
- President Biden could always have chosen to drop out of the race, and release all the pledged candidates that he has accumulated. But he cannot force them to support a candidate chosen by him — in this case, Harris.
If Not Biden, Then Who
- Vice President Kamala Harris is the most likely replacement to be on top of the ticket — the Presidential nomination. But that will again depend on the Democratic Party’s nomination process and whether she is the best-suited candidate.
- If she wins the nomination, she will be the first woman of colour to be on the party ticket. Being of African-American and Indian-American heritage, she will have those credentials — but in an increasingly divided America, her candidature is not yet a sealed deal.
- Several names have been doing the rounds ever since Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate with Trump triggered the calls for him to step aside.
- However, some of those names, such as Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have said they will not run, and others such as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, had thrown their weight behind Biden.
- The names that remain in the mix are Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Governor Gavin Newsom of California, Governor J B Pritzker of Illinois, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. The Democratic Party will in fact need two new faces, the nominees for President and Vice President.
