Biden had no choice but to withdraw - expert

Biden had no choice but to withdraw - expert

Washington DC, National Security Law and Foreign Relations expert Johanna Leblanc says US President Joe Biden had no choice but to withdraw from the 2024 election.

US President Joe Biden
Samuel Coru/AFP

Her reaction comes after Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee in a political earthquake that upended the race for the White House on Sunday.


 


"It was foreseeable after the debate with former president (Donald) Trump that Joe Biden will not seek re-election,” said Leblanc.


 


“There were calls from the donor base for him to step down not only because of the disastrous debate but also due to his demonstrated cognitive issues over the past years. As we know, this sentiment was especially pronounced when George Clooney penned an open letter asking Biden to step down, compounded by the silence of former president Barack Obama on the matter.


 


"Donors, voters and members of the Democratic Party completely lost confidence in Biden’s ability to win this election against Trump."


 


Biden, 81, said he was acting in the "best interest of my party and the country" by bowing to weeks of pressure after a disastrous June debate against Donald Trump stoked worries about his age and mental fitness.


 


In a letter posted on X, Biden said it had been the "greatest honour of my life" to be president. He said he would address the nation later this week. The White House later said he had no public events scheduled for Monday.


 


"While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," he wrote.


 


Shortly after, he offered his "full support and endorsement" for Harris, with his campaign filing official notice to change its name to "Harris for President."


 


Endorsements began streaming in for Harris almost immediately from Democratic big shots as well as those seen as potential rivals for the nomination, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom.


 


The Democratic fundraising group ActBlue, meanwhile, reported that Harris received $46.7 million in small-donor contributions in the hours just after announcing her campaign—its "biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle."


 


Speaking to Heart FM, Leblanc said Biden had no choice but to endorse his Deputy Kamala Harris.


 


"President Biden had no choice but to endorse VP (Vice President) Kamala Harris, considering that 90% of black women voted for him in the last election. He couldn't afford to further alienate that demographic, especially considering that the Gen-Z and some millennials have expressed discontent with the party's stance on US policy towards Israel during the Israel and Gaza conflict."


 


She added that Biden's endorsement does not necessarily mean that Harris will become the Democrats' candidate for the November 5th polls.


 


"An endorsement from Biden does not automatically make Harris the candidate for the presidency. I think at the end of the day, the DNC and the delegates are going to have a role to play in determining who will really be the candidate for the presidential election."


 


Leblanc said Harris has not been positioned to be a viable candidate for the presidency.


 


"She was given some of the worst portfolios. She was given the border crisis to handle, the Covid pandemic, so if the party really wanted to position Vice President Harris for this day to become the actual nominee for the  presidential election, I think they would have positioned her a lot better  to ensure that she is seen in a favourable light by the American voters and the American people because the reality is that there are a lot of concerns about whether or not she can win against a Donald Trump."


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