On July 21, President Joe Biden dropped from the presidentialrace.Afterweeks of dodging rumors about his mental capacity and telling the nation that he “wasn’t going anywhere”, Biden announced his exit from the campaign trail. The 81-yearold commander-in-chiefmade the announcement after he contracted COVID and was quarantined.
Biden didn’t take the traditional route when he made the announcement. In fact, it was anything but traditional.
Typically, when a candidate, especially the sitting president, drops from the race, they hold a press conference and make their announcement surrounded by their staff. However, White House aides learned of his exit by reading it on the social media platform, X.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a letter titled, “My Fellow Americans.”
“And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term. I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”
Biden then thanked the vice president for everything.
“I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work,” Biden wrote. “And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.”
Approximately a halfhour later, Biden posted on X endorsing Harris to be his replacement at the top of the party’s new ticket.
“Today I want to offer my fullsupportandendorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden wrote.“Democrats—it’stime to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
After announcing his endorsement of Harris, he implored people to donate to her campaign. Harris followed up a few hours later with her own statement, announcing shewouldbepursuing the party’s presidential nomination.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” Harris said of Biden’s withdrawal and praising her boss.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said about the endorsement. “Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead.”
Many Oklahoma politicians reacted to Biden’s exit from the presidential campaign.
Senator James Lankford said it was Biden’s policies that put him behind in the polls for this election.
“As I have said for months, President Biden was behind in every poll because of his policies, not his age or mental capacity,” Lankford said. “Democrats gave us high prices, open borders, and weak standing in the world. That’s not just Biden’s legacy, it is the legacy of the modern Democratic Party. Let’s Make America Great Again.”
Congressman Josh Brecheen said Biden shouldn’t even serve out his remaining term.
“If President Biden is not well enough to be the next Democrat nominee, he is not well enough to continue serving as President,” Brecheen said.“PresidentBidenshould resignimmediately.Whoever is the Democrat nominee is going to have a tough time defending the Biden-Harris record, which has been marked by historic inflation, crime, and wide-open borders. The American people have seen enough.”
Congressman Tom Cole had a little more to say about the president’s sudden exit.
“Today’s stunning announcement by President Biden that he is withdrawing from the presidential race is an admission that he cannot winre-electionandthatinthe Democratic Party, the will of the political elite is more important than the votes of ordinary Americans,” Cole said. “President Biden won the Democratic nomination fair and square. Indeed the same elite that are turning on him now helped to engineer that victory by shutting out other legitimate contenders for the nomination. However, whenitbecameapparentthat PresidentBidenwasunlikely to win a general election against former President Trump his erstwhile allies quickly showed him the door and are now frantically searching for an alternative nominee who might offer them a better chance to hold on to power.”
“Thetransparentcynicism of this desperate attempt to hang on to political power by the Democratic political insiders is breathtaking for its sheer audacity and hypocrisy,” Cole continued. “They respect neither their own process nor their own voters. To them, this election is not about defending democracy. It is about subverting it and substituting the interests of a self-appointed and selfserving political cabal for the will of millions of Democratic voters who played by the rules and expressed their opinion at the ballot box. The contrast between this political circus and the free and open process operated by the RepublicanPartycouldnotbe more stark and more clear. Donald Trump faced many able and worthy competitors in dozens of primaries and bested them all. Whoever the Democratic elite anoints as their party’s nominee will not have won a single legitimate primary nor the vote of a single Democratic voter.”
Other politicians sang Biden’s praises, like former HouseSpeakerNancyPelosi. She also endorsed Harris as the one to take Biden’s place.
“America has been truly blessed by the wisdom and leadership of President Joe Biden,” Pelosi said in a statement. “With love and gratitude, IsalutePresidentBiden for always believing in the possibilities of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment.”
“As one of our country’s most consequential presidents, President Biden has been not only on the right side of history, but on the right side of the future.”
“Today, it is with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future that I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States,” she continued. “My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political.”