Joe Biden has formally dropped out of the 2024 US presidential race, and has publicly endorsed the present Vice-President Kamala Harris to succeed him.
However with solely 105 days left to go till election day within the US, will or not it’s Harris vs Trump? And is there sufficient time for the Democrats to combat in opposition to the momentum constructing behind Donald Trump?
Discover The Commonplace on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you stream.
Right here’s a totally automated transcript of this episode:
From London, I am Rochelle Travers, and that is The Commonplace.
Nicely, it is official, Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 US presidential race.
“I respect the choice that he has now made.
Not a straightforward choice, however a call that I do know that he may have arrived at considering one of the best pursuits of the American individuals.
And I stay up for working with him for the rest of his presidency.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer giving his response to the information there.
After weeks of hypothesis and requires President Biden to step apart, he launched a press release on Sunday wherein he stated it was the best honour to serve, however his withdrawal was in one of the best curiosity of the social gathering and the nation.
He’ll stay as president for the remainder of the time period.
Biden has publicly endorsed the present vp, Kamala Harris, to succeed him.
Following the information, Harris stated she would earn and win this nomination and unite the nation in opposition to Trump.
However with solely 105 days left to go till election day within the US, will or not it’s Harris versus Trump?
And is there sufficient time for the Democrats to combat in opposition to the momentum constructing behind Donald Trump?
Jitendra Joshi is The Night Commonplace’s deputy political editor.
Jit, Biden has stepped down from the 2024 presidential race. What have been the occasions that led to this choice?
Sure, so it has been slightly below 4 weeks within the coming actually ever for the reason that first presidential debate between Biden and Donald Trump in late June.
There have been already doubts about Joe Biden’s fairly clearly declining bodily and psychological acuity.
You already know, he actually has slowed down in latest months and years and that is turning into extra evident.
You already know, he is at all times been recognized for his verbal gaffes.
Nicely, these had actually grown fairly acute.
After which the controversy simply actually introduced that every one collectively.
This was an enormous set piece second the place the Democrats have been seeking to their president, to their candidate to essentially stick it to Donald Trump in entrance of a nationwide and world TV viewers.
And he utterly failed the audition.
Ever since that, then these doubts about whether or not he is received the standing energy had actually turn into acute.
A lot in order that numerous senior Democrats largely quietly, however some fairly overtly had come out and stated, look, this can’t go on.
We will lose to Trump and the Republicans in November except we alter issues up fairly quick, regardless of the massive dangers of fixing issues this late within the sport.
What has the response been wish to Biden dropping out?
I believe actually it is this unhappiness that it is come to this.
Nobody on the Democratic facet is celebrating.
Donald Trump is in his personal inimitable, insulting and abusive method, however that is one other factor.
On the Democratic facet, there’s unhappiness, however there’s additionally big reduction that Joe Biden has, within the view of many, come to see the inevitable earlier than the social gathering holds its conference in slightly below 4 weeks in Chicago.
It is extra than simply reduction.
You possibly can kind of measure how that is impacting the race by, notably, the circulation of cash.
Cash counts for every thing in US politics.
And hastily, on Sunday, after Joe Biden’s announcement, he noticed over $50 million being raised on-line by the Democrats to assist their would-be new nominee, Kamala Harris.
So if cash talks, then it is speaking fairly loudly.
And now it is actually over to her, to the Vice President, to make use of that cash and to point out that she’s worthy of this mantle.
Biden has publicly endorsed Kamala Harris, who we’ll discuss in additional element partially two of this episode.
Does this imply it is a accomplished deal and he or she’ll turn into the Democratic nominee?
It is not completely a accomplished deal till it is a accomplished deal, if you realize what I imply.
So principally what meaning is we have to see a roll name of votes both in Chicago or as some Democratic leaders are urging to have some kind of course of accomplished nearly earlier than the conference in order that the social gathering can go into the conference with a united stand, figuring out clearly who the nominee is gonna be.
However that is the kind of technical factor.
To all intents and functions, as soon as a candidate picks up sufficient steam, as soon as they have the cash going their method, and as soon as they’re getting the excessive profile endorsements of senior individuals within the social gathering, then that achieves a kind of pretty unstoppable momentum.
And it might be courageous, let’s assume, of anybody else to then cut up their head above the parapet, go in opposition to the presumptive nominee and set off some critical bloodletting at a time when the social gathering actually must get its act collectively.
Who’re the opposite potential Democratic nominees if Harris is not chosen?
The social gathering is definitely not badly positioned when it comes to expertise.
In the event that they did need a problem, might credibly level to their very own political experiences, offering a platform for that.
So, individuals like that embody Pete Buttigieg.
He was within the cupboard now underneath Biden.
He rose to prominence in 2020 from just about nowhere, actually, to emerge because the winner of the Iowa caucuses earlier than he finally threw his lot in with Joe Biden.
So he is now the cupboard secretary.
You have received governors like Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear, Mark Kelly, one or two others.
They’re all within the combine, however for essentially the most half, they’ve all come out within the final hours since Joe Biden’s announcement to say that they are backing Kamala Harris.
There’s one intriguing one who’s Gavin Newsom.
He is the governor of California and is broadly seen as a kind of telegenic, efficient, politically-experienced operator who would possibly properly have ambitions of his personal.
There’s, nevertheless, a problem there, which is that underneath the Structure, you may’t have two candidates, the president and vice presidential candidates, coming from the identical state.
And naturally, Kamala Harris is California herself.
Do you suppose the Democrats have sufficient time to show issues round earlier than the US election in November?
Probably, sure, as a result of really, whereas this can be a shock, and it is by no means occurred this late within the race to see a candidate drop out, I imply, it’s important to return to 1968, when Lyndon Johnson, who was president on the time, bowed out in March of that yr, six, seven months earlier than the election.
We’re now taking a look at loads lower than that, simply over 100 days.
So, time is brief, however they don’t seem to be ranging from a horrible place.
The polls had began tipping extra decisively in direction of Donald Trump since that debate 4 weeks in the past, however they keep within the realms of competitiveness.
And that is as true nationally as it’s in the important thing six or seven battleground states, which is able to resolve the election.
So, should you take a look at the baseline of the place they’re ranging from, 47, 48% on a nationwide vote, it is not utterly inconceivable to show issues round.
The important thing, nevertheless, is what kind of candidate Kamala Harris goes to show to be.
She’s already the primary individual of Indian Jamaican heritage to function vp, and the primary lady, in fact.
So, have been she then to progress to the West Wing as president herself, she can be shattering an enormous glass ceiling.
We take a detailed take a look at Kamala Harris, the potential Democratic nominee and hopeful president in ready.
Nonetheless with me is Jitendra Joshi, The Night Commonplace’s deputy political editor.
Now, let’s take a deeper take a look at Kamala Harris, the potential Democratic nominee who hopes to tackle Trump.
What can we learn about her and her background?
She’s bottom-racing in California, and he or she’s ultimately, she’s the embodiment of the American dream.
Her mom was an Indian immigrant.
Her father was from Jamaica.
So, she can be, or she’s already the primary individual of Indian Jamaican heritage to function vp and the primary lady, in fact.
So, have been she then to progress to the West Wing as president herself, she can be shattering an enormous glass ceiling.
Her path to politics, as for therefore many US politicians got here via the legislation.
She was a district legal professional after which legal professional basic in California, the place she was fairly efficient in bringing down sure charges of crime, though there was controversy surrounding reluctance to name for the loss of life penalty and in addition the charges of conviction that she pursued in opposition to marijuana customers, which disproportionately affected black individuals in San Francisco.
So there was a problem there, however she overcame that to turn into a senator, democratic senator for California and used that platform to get fairly a profile nationally in televised riddings of the Trump appointees after he received the presidency in 2016.
And he or she used that profile then to run for president herself, or not less than to try to earn the democratic nomination in 2020.
And this is the place issues went actually, began to go mistaken for the primary time in her political rise, as a result of the factor about American politics, the factor about working for president is it is a lengthy, exhausting, and really sophisticated and really money hungry course of.
It actually finds you out should you’re not fairly prepared.
She was uncovered as not being prepared, to be trustworthy.
Her marketing campaign was written by him combating, she by no means fairly managed to resolve what her messaging was.
And he or she went from being the embodiment of the American dream to flaming out and needed to stop the race even earlier than the primary contest in Iowa.
Joe Biden went on to win and actually rescued her then by choosing her as his vp working mate.
And this was across the time of Black Lives Matter.
There was numerous angst about racial politics and he or she was seen as the right kind of ally to assist him with black voters and ladies voters.
However now that she’s on the high of the ticket, has she addressed these deficiencies from 4 years in the past?
So, she’s seen as kind of on the liberal wing of the Democratic Occasion.
She, underneath Joe Biden, she as vp, she was tasked noticeably with making an attempt to unravel what was driving the massive numbers of individuals coming into the US illegally from Latin America.
And that is one thing that is really hobbled her ever since.
So, whereas being fairly kind of sympathetic to the plan of immigrants and refusing the extra hardline insurance policies espoused by Donald Trump and the Republicans, she barely misplaced observe of the place America was going, the place numerous voters have been going.
She tripped up fairly badly in an early interview when she was requested, properly, why have not you gone to the border your self?
And he or she stated, properly, I need not go to the border.
I have not even been to Europe, and I nonetheless know numerous issues about Europe.
I imply, it was an odd comment and he or she’s by no means actually recovered from that within the opinion polls.
That stated, she’s actually gone after Donald Trump fairly successfully, kind of leaning again on her previous as a prosecutor, extra not too long ago to go after him very, very strongly on abortion.
So, the Republicans, the Supreme Court docket, that stacks with judges appointed by Donald Trump, overturned the historic Roe v. Wade ruling that protected a lady’s proper to privateness over her physique, which in flip allowed for states to permit abortion rights.
That glided by the wayside.
We’re in a really unsure interval now the place states are doing their very own factor.
Some Republicans wish to have a federal nationwide ban.
This has emerged as an actual fort line of the election.
And Kamala Harris has actually gone after Trump onerous on that, in addition to on a few of these kind of social tradition conflict fronts, whereas making an attempt to guard Joe Biden’s legacy on the financial system and funding in infrastructure and kind of defending deprived communities with extra federal assist.
These are all issues that Donald Trump needs to check out of the window.
There looks as if there may be a lot momentum behind Trump for the reason that debate and the assassination try.
The place do these newest developments with the Democrats depart the Republicans?
That is exactly the factor.
In order that they have been on a little bit of a excessive after Donald Trump’s brush with loss of life.
As probably tragic as that was to see a politician gunned down in that method, he escaped not simply along with his life, however with a very highly effective set of pictures and a strong story projecting power and backbone, which he then carried via the Republican Nationwide Conference final week in Milwaukee.
However numerous the messaging there was premised on, you realize, Joe Biden is a criminal, Joe Biden is previous, seen low and unfit for workplace.
That is now all off the desk.
They should recalibrate that to attacking Kamala Harris.
However she was already on Biden’s ticket.
She was already within the mixture of their political assaults.
And one factor you may depend on with Donald Trump is, you’ll at all times try to choose on the non-public as a lot as on the political and on the coverage entrance.
So, he is going after Harris for, properly, notably for the way in which she laughs as a result of really that is one of many defining traits, I believe, for many American voters.
She’s received fairly an enthusiastic stomach snort and that is turn into a keep on with which to beat her in numerous the assault advertisements.
So, he is received a brand new nickname for her.
He is calling her laughing Kamala Harris.
So he is shedding no time to, you realize, go down the political low highway.
However when it comes to coverage, his marketing campaign is, they’ve already received their first assault advertisements out, linking her very a lot to Joe Biden’s coverage agenda on immigration and in addition on the financial system.
As a result of most Individuals, similar to in Britain, lots of people are nonetheless feeling the pinch from the price of dwelling disaster that hasn’t gone away.
You possibly can learn extra concerning the US election within the Commonplace newspaper or on our web site, commonplace.co.uk.
And that is it from this episode.
The Commonplace podcast shall be again tomorrow at 4pm.
