He confirmed he will serve out the remainder of his term.
Harris said Sunday that she intends to "earn and win" the Democratic presidential nomination and vowed in a statement to defeat Republican nominee former President Trump. His top campaign advisers came out swinging against Harris on Sunday, calling her "even worse" than Biden and saying she has been his "enabler in chief."
Trump himself told CBS News he was unsure who would be the Democrats' nominee, but it wouldn't affect the way he proceeds with his campaign.
THE PRESIDENT MADE his announcement from his home in Delaware, where he has been isolating with COVID-19 since testing positive Wednesday. His campaign gave no indication he would step down in the last several days; instead, reports emerged of a frustrated Biden, determined to continue his candidacy. Top Democrats started the day on the Sunday talk show circuit, insisting Biden would remain in the race.
In the afternoon, staffers described learning of the announcement "a minute" before the public, when Biden's letter went live on social media. Harris herself was told on the same day.
▪ The New York Times: What happened in the final moments as Biden decided to withdraw.
▪ NBC News: Biden's decision was tightly held, with one integral member of Biden's re-election team finding out after a family member read a news alert.
▪ The Washington Post: A look at Biden's long career, from being elected as one of the nation's youngest senators in 1972 to becoming the nation's oldest president in 2021.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Biden's decision raises a multitude of questions about the future of the presidential race. Congressional Democrats and blue-state governors quickly moved to back Harris on Sunday, though the process to replace the party's nominee leaves more questions than answers. In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the party "will undertake a transparent and orderly process" to pick the nominee, without offering specifics. The DNC's Rules Committee, which helps oversee the nomination process, will meet Wednesday afternoon.
Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how Democrats can select their next candidate. And here are the options for the DNC's next moves.
▪ NOTUS: Democrats considering running against the vice president are at a serious disadvantage — structurally and, with some delegates, emotionally.
▪ The Hill's The Memo: If Harris claims the nomination prize, the war to win November's general election will be much tougher.
AS SHE RACES to lock down support, a running list of congressional Democrats endorsed Harris, from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Also on the list: labor unions and key blue-state governors, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — possible rivals who instead moved to support Harris as the new nominee. And in a unanimous vote, all 50 state Democratic party chairs on Sunday threw their weight behind Harris.
Notably absent? Congressional leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Pelosi was a leader in the push to get Biden to step aside; she and the president spoke about the impact his debate performance could have on his legacy.
Their silence does not necessarily reflect a lack of confidence in or support for Harris, as some Democrats viewed Sunday as being about Biden.
"People are holding back because there's a certain amount of respect that Joe Biden is due on this day and, frankly, for the rest of his days on this planet for what he is and what he has done," former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told MSNBC.
Still, there's relatively little polling that shows how Harris would fare in a hypothetical match-up against Trump. What is clear from head-to-head polling is that the general trend has gotten a lot better for Harris. She was underperforming Biden in polls against Trump a year ago. Around the time of Biden's June debate, she began to perform about evenly. In July, several recent surveys showed Harris doing the same as Biden against Trump — or just slightly better. According to a DecisionDeskHQ and The Hill average of polls, Trump leads Harris by 2 points, 47 percent support to 45 percent. Biden fared similarly against the former president.
Then there's the million-dollar question: Can Harris inherit Biden's war chest, originally intended for the Biden-Harris ticket? Biden's campaign recently reported just more than $91 million on hand, but allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. The Republican National Committee is already contemplating lawsuits related to the potential transfer. But the short answer, according to Federal Election Commission Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum, is yes, since Harris was already on the campaign's registration statement (The Hill and The New York Times).
"It's very clear," Lindenbaum told the Times. "If Kamala Harris is the Democratic presidential nominee, she gets to use all the money in the account."
Small dollar-donors gave nearly $47 million on ActBlue in the seven hours after Harris's campaign for president launched Sunday afternoon (The Hill).
▪ Semafor: Wall Street Democrats are lining up behind Harris with a mixture of relief and genuine enthusiasm.
▪ The Hill: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) is pondering re-registering as a Democrat and running for the nomination. Manchin has long been a thorn in Democrats' side, even as he helped deliver Biden some of his signature policy achievements, and his chances against Harris would be slim.
And who would run alongside her? From Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper or Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, these are some of the Democrats who could boost a Harris ticket.
Though the next few days will be rife with uncertainty among Democrats as they scramble to put together a new ticket ahead of their August convention, The Hill's Amie Parnes reports that on Sunday, they exhaled. Minutes after Biden's announcement, Democrats said they were relieved by the decision. The stalemate over the president's future, they said, was horrible for their party and was putting them in even deeper jeopardy of losing in November.
"Let's go," said one major bundler who was looking for Biden to hand the reins to Harris. "Nothing against the president. He's a hero. But things were spiraling and now we have a chance."
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