As Biden quits race, Republicans call for him to resign

The announcement from US President Joe Biden that he will not run again in the 2024 presidential elections on November 5 has sent shockwaves through Washington on Sunday.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. 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."

The statement that Joe Biden shared on his social media channels mid-day local time on Sunday appears to have been a somewhat sudden decision. On Sunday morning local time, mere hours before Biden's statement went out, his "Biden for President" campaign sent out an email with the subject header "USA Today: Democratic Party Chairs in Battleground States Stand With President Biden."

The email was referring to a story in the Sunday issue of daily USA Today, about a letter by seven Democratic Party chairs from important swing states talking about why Biden is the best candidate for the November 5 election.

"As we enter the final 100-day stretch, President Biden has proven he can beat Donald Trump if we all do the work," the party chairs' letter says.

In the email sent on Sunday morning, the Biden campaign stated that those Democratic Party leaders "have their fingers on the pulse of the electorate… and they continue to stand with President Biden because of what they are seeing from voters on the ground."

Now voters won't be able to cast their ballot for Biden anymore.

Republicans call for Biden to resign

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, wrote on social media platform X that the president withdrawing his candidacy in effect "invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president."

The Republican called on Joe Biden to step down from office, claiming if he is "not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President."

It's important to note that while Biden has withdrawn his candidacy for re-election, he is not stepping down as president. Republicans have criticized that decision.

Republican candidate for President Donald Trump gave an interview to Fox News Digital, which is known to be Republican-friendly, after Biden had announced his decision.

Trump claimed that Biden was not fit to serve as president anymore: "And I ask ― who is going to be running the country for the next five months?"

Obama praises Biden's patriotic move

Former president Barack Obama released a statement shortly after Biden's announcement, calling his former vice president "a patriot of the highest order."

He praised Biden's empathy and resilience and acknowledged how hard it had to be for him to step aside.

"But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America," Obama said. "It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own…"

Will Kamala Harris be the new candidate?

Obama in his statement notably did not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the new candidate for president. Biden did so in a separate post on his social media accounts, and Harris said in a statement that she was "honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this 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.

Even though she is the current vice president, Harris is not automatically also the Democrats' new candidate. Democratic delegates will vote at the Democratic National Convention from August 19 to 22 on who they want to be the nominee.

Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have both endorsed Harris to replace Biden as the party's presidential candidate. 

"We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and will do whatever we can to support her," the Clintons said in a statement on social media platform X. They added that now was the time to support Harris and "fight with everything we've got to elect her."

Hillary Clinton was the first woman from either party to win a presidential nomination when she campaigned in 2016 against Trump.

Edited by: Kristin Zeier