Biden drops from election: everything you need to know

After 50 years of service, President Biden announced he would not be running for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee for the Democratic Party.

Biden has decided to step down and not accept the democratic nomination to focus on the remainder of his term. It’s believed Biden could not surmount the growing sentiment that he was too old to be in office and was bound to lose to former president Donald Trump in the election. Later this week he plans to speak to the public about his decision.

In a sincere post to Instagram, Biden reflected on his time in office, citing his improvements in healthcare and passing important climate legislation. In his time in office, Biden has lowered unemployment from 6.3% when he took control to now 4.3% and reached as low as 3.4% early on in 202. The President has also passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most meaningful gun reform act in 30 years.

Since getting support from Biden for office, many within the Democratic Party have followed suit. Most notably, sen. Elizabeth Warren has expressed full support for the vice president as a potential nominee for office. This sentiment is backed by rep. Pramila Jayapal, and rep. Cori Bush. 

“President Biden's selfless action is a profound gift to the people of the United States,” Warren said on X. “I endorse Kamala Harris for President. She is a proven fighter who has been a national leader in safeguarding consumers and protecting access to abortion.” 

Moments after announcing his exit, Trump made several statements about Biden’s presidency, none of which have been positive. 

“There has never been a president who has done such damage to our country,” the former president said. “[He] should never have been there in the first place. He should have stayed in his basement.” 

While it’s not certain who the new nominee will be for the Democratic party, Trump believes Harris will be easier to win against than Biden. 

Another pivotal reaction to this news has been the call for Biden to resign from office altogether. Amongst many republican voices advocating for his resignation, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been the loudest alongside Trump. 

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” Johnson said. 

These barks hold some bite, as many senior republican lawmakers make the case that Biden’s place in office is a threat to national security. However, any attempt to impeach Biden would prove to be a tall task for Republicans, as they hold a small majority in the House and the Senate is controlled by Democrats. Despite these unfavorable conditions, this has not stopped important figures in the Republican from voicing their grimes. 

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve,” Trump said on Truth Social. 

Biden’s decline in popularity with America and his party has sharply declined since the debate between Biden and Trump in late June. The existing belief that Biden was too old to run for office only heightened, and many believed him to be too frail to defeat Trump. Hours before he announced his exit from the election, representative Dean Phillips called for a ‘secret vote of confidence’ to assess Congress’s stance on Biden.

“When President Biden announced his re-election bid in April 2023, my colleagues and I were concerned about his ability to defeat Donald Trump a second time,” Phillips said in an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal published earlier this morning.“If ‘no confidence’ is the consensus, the president must end his candidacy.” 

Although he lost a majority of his backing from the Democratic Party during his reelection campaign, he has gained the utmost support since dropping. Democratic Whip Dick Durbin praises Biden for placing his ‘country first.’

The Democratic Party faces a critical few hours as they adjust their game plan against Trump. This is a battle against the clock, as they must find a replacement for Biden that can win over swing states and defeat Trump in November. 

Only time will tell, but The Pineapple Times urges its readers to properly educate themselves by getting their news from a variety of sources, engaging in dialogue amongst friends, and challenging the validity of what they see on social media.