President Joe Biden said Sunday he would end his reelection bid against former President Donald Trump, an unprecedented move that upends the presidential race less than four months before the election. He quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president.
Here’s a look at the latest news.
9:50 p.m. Warnock endorses Harris
By David Wickert
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock added his voice to the growing chorus of Democrats endorsing Kamala Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee.
“I’ve been proud to work alongside [President Joe Biden] & our very able Vice President, @KamalaHarris,” Warnock wrote on X. “I am proud to endorse her candidacy to be the next President of the United States.”
8:40 p.m.: UGA prof sees parallels to 1968 race
By Eric Stirgus
University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock remembers watching in 1968 when Lyndon Johnson announced he was ending his campaign, the last time a sitting president ended a re-election bid. At the time, the nation was divided over the Vietnam War.
Johnson, like Biden, was under a glaring political microscope before his decision not to run. Johnson’s weak performance in the New Hampshire primary that year surprised political experts and campaign reporters. Biden’s poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump in Atlanta last month began his campaign downfall.
“Neither were hitting home runs,” Bullock said of both men in a telephone interview Sunday.
One difference Bullock noted is that Johnson announced he was ending his re-election bid at the end of March, several months before the Democratic National Convention. Biden made his decision just a few weeks before the convention. Ironically, the convention that year was in Chicago. This year’s convention is also in Chicago.
Bullock said then, like now, party elders are playing a major role in the process. In 1968, party bosses still played a major role in nominating a candidate because there were fewer state primaries. The Washington Post reported Sunday that more than 100 Democratic members of Congress and governors endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s standard-bearer.
Bullock observed the questions about the Republican Party’s nominee. In 1968, Richard Nixon was the party nominee although he lost the presidential election eight years earlier to John F. Kennedy. This year, Trump is trying to return to the White House after losing the 2020 election. In both instances, there have been concerns about their electability.
7:25 p.m. Harris gains another key endorsement
By David Wickert
Vice President Kamala Harris gained another important endorsement Sunday night from U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina.
Clyburn played a key role in Biden’s 2020 campaign - endorsing him after Biden endured a string of disappointing early primary performances. Biden went on to win South Carolina that year, propelling him to the Democratic nomination and the presidency.
“One of President Biden’s first decisions as the nominee was to select a running mate that he believed possessed the values and vision necessary to continue this country’s pursuit toward ‘a more perfect union,’” Clyburn said. “I echo the good judgment he demonstrated in selecting Vice President Harris to lead the nation alongside him, and I am proud to follow his lead in support of her candidacy to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for president.”
6:10 p.m. Metro Atlanta residents express their thoughts on Biden, Harris
By Caleb Groves, Ernie Suggs and Shelia Poole
Elected officials and political partisans weren’t the only ones expressing their thoughts about Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of the presidential race.
On Sunday in Piedmont Park, Juan Westbrook, 48, of Atlanta, said this far into the race, Biden is a better nominee for the party but he will support Harris.
“I just think the way it was handled wasn’t the right way to do things,” Westbrook said.
Financial advisor Michael Dyson of Atlanta, 29, said he is “ambivalent” about Harris but still plans to back the Democratic ticket.
“I’d probably prefer someone else, but I’ll take her over Biden,” Dyson said. “But I’ll definitely take either of them over Trump.”
While Dyson voted for Biden in 2020, he said the party shouldn’t have waited this long for an alternate nominee.
Stephany Gilstrap, a software engineer, said she is excited Biden endorsed Harris but said it’ll be a close race.
“I don’t think this makes the election easier,” said Gilstrap, of Jefferson. “It’s definitely going to be very tight—Harris has a lot to show, but we need somebody in the office who is coherent at all times. With Biden’s decline and health, I’d really rather him just sit back, go to the beach and enjoy whatever time he has left.”
She said that while some may have had problems with Harris, she is a strong candidate who showed complete loyalty to Biden, even to this week.
“It’s going to be a bigger fight if the party choses someone other than her. It’s going to be a huge fight.”
Clarkston resident Shanta Moreland, 35, a tech repair specialist at Quick Phone Repair in Sandy Springs, was working Sunday afternoon when she heard the news.
“Wow!” she repeatedly said.
Moreland’s surprise came in part from Biden’s insistence that he was staying in the race.
“He seemed so determined not to drop out,” Moreland said.
Moreland, who is Black, said she was excited by the possibility that Harris could succeed Biden in the White House.
“That would be cool,” she said. “I think it’s time. It’s time for a change.”
Plemon El-Amin, imam emeritus of the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, is throwing his support behind Harris.
“I believe she has a decent chance but what’s going to be very, very important is who the party chooses to be her vice president,” he said. “I don’t have a good suggestion, but it’s got to be someone who’s a little different from Kamala. It will probably have to be a male and will not be an African American. It’s going to be very strategic choice.”
5:30 p.m. A striking divergence of tone among Republicans
By David Wickert
Georgia Republicans offered strikingly different responses to Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race Sunday.
Most Republicans blasted the president and Democrats generally. Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon called on Biden to step down immediately.
“If he is not fit to run, he is not fit to serve,” McKoon wrote on X.
Some Republicans also criticized what they say is the undemocratic nature of Biden’s decision.
“This is the least democratic nominating process in American history,” U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter wrote on X. “Washington Democrats will be held accountable for steamrolling and misleading the American people come November.”
“Joe Biden knew he would be fired in November and finally accepted that the American people are fed up with his radical policies and glaring weakness on the world stage,” U.S. Rep. Rick Allen said. “The Democratic party is in total disarray, but rather than allow Joe Biden to face his all but certain defeat, Washington Democrats forced him out.”
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr offered a more subdued take on the day’s events.
“We are in an unprecedented political time in our nation’s history,” Carr said on X. “Setting aside the political impact from today’s announcement, President Biden made the right decision for his health & we will pray for him.”
“No matter who the Democrats pick as their nominee, we have a duty that does not change - to keep America the greatest, strongest & freest nation in the world,” Carr said. “Electing Republicans up & down the ticket in 2024 is the only way to achieve that goal.”
5:15 p.m. Ossoff, other Georgia leaders react to Biden’s withdrawal from presidential race
By David Wickert
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff became the highest-ranking Georgia Democrat to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee Sunday afternoon.
“Vice President Harris is now absolutely the right candidate to defeat Donald Trump and unite our country,” Ossoff wrote on X. “@KamalaHarris is prepared, ready to win, & has my full support.”
Ossoff joins a growing chorus of Georgia Democrats to line up behind Harris after President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race.
5 p.m. Republicans rally to Trump; Trump blasts Biden, Harris
By David Wickert
Republicans rallied around former President Donald Trump Sunday and suggested a change in Democratic nominees would make no difference.
“No matter who is at the top of the Democrat ticket, the policies that have weakened our nation will not change,” said U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk. “Now, as before, we must win in November to get our country back on track!”
Georgia Agricultural Secretary Tyler Harper quoted Trump, who pledged to “make agriculture great again” on social media.
“Under your leadership, we will make it happen across the country Mr. President!” Harper said on X.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign continued to blast “Crooked Joe Biden” as “a complete fraud and a disgrace to our country.”
“Biden has left our borders wide open, allowing up to 20 million illegal aliens to enter the United States, creating a Biden Migrant Crime Wave and taxing precious resources,” campaign senior advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said.
“Biden has taken our once-great economy and ruined it, creating record inflation and causing Americans to have to choose between groceries and gas,” the wrote. “Biden has been so weak, pathetic, and incompetent as a leader that he allowed 13 American servicemembers to be killed in Afghanistan, which set off a chain reaction that caused Putin to invade Ukraine and Hamas terrorists to attack Israel. World leaders are laughing at us.”
The campaign was just as withering in targeting Harris, saying she “sat by and did nothing.”
“Kamala Harris is just as much of joke as Biden is,” the Trump campaign said. “Harris will be even WORSE for the people of our Nation than Joe Biden. Harris has been the Enabler in Chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other’s records, and there is no distance between the two. Harris must defend the failed Biden Administration AND her liberal, weak-on-crime record in CA.”
4:35 p.m. Georgia Democrats shower Biden with praise, rally to Harris
By David Wickert
Democrats showered praise on President Joe Biden Sunday after he announced he would not seek re-election. They also rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed to take his place atop the ticket.
“I have had the distinct honor and privilege of knowing President Joe Biden, not just as a remarkable leader, but as a dear friend and mentor,” former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said. “Today, as he announces his decision not to seek re-election, my heart is filled with a profound sense of sadness and admiration for the man who has served our nation with unwavering dedication and grace.”
State Sen. Jason Esteves called Biden “the most effective President of our lifetime.” And Sen. Elena Parent contrasted Biden and Republican nominee Donald Trump.
“The contrast President Biden and the Democrats have just drawn with former president Trump and the GOP could not be more clear,” Parent said. “Here is a man who puts the country ahead of himself. The GOP has a delusional megalomaniac on their hands, who would never do such a thing.”
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams praised Biden and signaled her support of Harris.
“We are grateful to President @JoeBiden for everything he has done and will continue to do for our Country. Remember, defeating Donald Trump was always the goal. Sending @KamalaHarris to the Oval Office is how we get there,” Williams said.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson and Georgia Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler also expressed support for Harris.
“I thank President Biden for his leadership and service to our nation, and I pledge my support to Vice President Harris,” Johnson said.
“Kamala Harris has been an excellent vice president, she will be an excellent president and Democrats across the country will work hard to elect her this November,” Butler said.
4:05 p.m.: Bishop praises Harris as potential nominee
By Shelia Poole
The prospect of Vice President Kamala Harris rising to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket drew praise from the presiding bishop of the predominantly Black Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia, which has about 270 congregations and 15,000 members in the state.
“This is a watershed moment for us as a nation,” said Bishop Thomas Louis Brown Sr.
He praised Harris for her “bright mind and I would hope that women, in particular of all races, would see in her their own aspirations.”
Brown said two of the challenges facing Harris is that she is a woman and a woman of color. “This nation has not been favorable towards women, period, and particularly women of color,” he said.
Brown said he think most men will support her, “but you always have that contingency of men who have a problem with women leading.
“What I fear most are some of my male colleagues in ministry who have the position, theologically or otherwise, that women can not lead at this level and in some of the churches,” he said.
Brown said there are always women who have other problems with women leading, although he does not see that as an issue.
3:15 p.m.: First reactions swift and partisan
By David Wickert
Reaction to Biden’s announcement was swift and sharply divided along party lines. Democrats hailed the president’s decision and expressed resolve as they sought to prevent a second Trump term.
“Now, more than ever, we must not only unite to ensure that Donald Trump does not return to the White House—we must champion a vibrant vision for our next American chapter,” former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said on X. “It is our responsibility to lift every voice and pick up the mantle and fight for justice, equality and democracy.”
Georgia Senate Democrats called Biden’s decision “an immense loss for our country.
“But, following Joe’s example, we, too, will persevere,” the Senate Democrats said. “We will elect Kamala Harris this November.”
Republicans blasted Biden and cast his decision to bow out as illegitimate.
“The Democrat establishment has succeeded in subverting the will of their voters,” Lt. Gov. Burt Jones said on X. “They can replace their nominee, but can’t change the damage they’ve done to this border and economy. Republicans have never been more united and the Democrats are a mess.”
“If you pulled a ballot for the Democratic Presidential Primary in your state this year and thought your vote mattered, guess what—it didn’t!” added U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.
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