WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just about 48 hours ago, President Joe Biden announced he was not seeking re-election. He has since endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris for the democratic nomination. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are reacting to the changes in the Biden campaign.
Democrats are both praising Biden for stepping aside and feeling a boost of energy with the presumptive nominee. Republicans are calling for Biden to resign. They said if he’s unfit to run again for the highest office, he is unfit to currently stay in the highest office.
Since the debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump, Republicans have highlighted Biden’s poor performance during the debate. Others like Republican Representative Marc Molinaro (R- NY), are calling for Biden to resign. They are saying if he is not fit to seek re-election, he isn’t fit to continue service as commander in chief. Representative Dan Meuser (R- PA) released a statement saying in part: “The Democrat Party just bullied their nominee off the ballot, disenfranchising the 953,916 ballots cast for President Biden in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and 14.3 million nationwide, representing 98.9% of Democratic voters. Now, the Democrat Party will select their candidate in one of the most undemocratic processes ever, working behind closed doors with no input from the voters.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the aisle, Democrats on the Hill are amped up about this change. Before Biden announced he was stepping aside, many started to slowly publicly stating they did not want Biden to run again. But with the announcement, some Democrats like Senators Bob Casey (D- PA), John Fetterman (D- PA), Chuck Schumer (D- NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY), Gary Peters (D- MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D- MI) are all endorsing Harris.
“President Biden’s selfless decision has given the democratic party an opportunity to unite behind a new nominee and boy oh boy are we enthusiastic,” said Sen. Schumer. “Since President Biden’s announcement, we have seen the Democratic party swiftly coalesce behind Vice President Kamala Harris.”
“The Democrat party likes to talk about democracy a lot and how they’re supposedly guardians of democracy but they have taken 14 million votes and thrown them out the window,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy (R- NY). “She has failed as the ‘border-czar’, she has her own – you know Joe Biden’s terrible record is also her terrible record.”
Republicans on the Hill are now starting to turn their attention on Harris. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R- LA) said Harris has been a coconspirator with President Biden when it comes to the border crisis and inflation issues.
Democrats feel that voters will be excited for the change and it will help them get to vote. Some polls showed that many Democratic voters felt unenthusiastic about Biden trying to run again.
On Wednesday, Biden is set to address the nation. He will most likely will discuss his reasons why he dropped out from the race.
