Legend has it that when King George III heard that America’s first president, George Washington, had decided to retire at the end of his second term, he said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
Joe Biden, 81, ended his presidential re-election campaign on Sunday as he holed up in a beach house in Delaware with a bad cough after being diagnosed with Covid-19. It was a selfless decision to put the interests of the country ahead of personal gain — an act of grace that many saw as a stark contrast to the narcissism of his opponent, Donald Trump.
It also sets the stage for an entirely different kind of election in November, as top Democrats quickly rush to back Kamala Harris and the president himself does the same. Now, Republicans will have to deal with issues of mental competency and aging candidates.
While many fellow Democrats have lost faith in Biden’s mental acuity and ability to defeat Trump, they have no mechanism to unseat Biden, who won a mandate in the party’s primaries and continues to enjoy the support of black and progressive voters . Although Biden spent decades fighting for the throne and sincerely believed he could get the job done, Biden ultimately realized that it was not about him, and never had been.
Polls strongly suggest he will lose in November to Trump, a twice-impeached felon and instigator of the Jan. 6 insurrection. If you keep going and set yourself on fire to give Trump the keys to the White House, you will destroy his legacy. He will be remembered as the man who saved democracy in 2020, only to sacrifice it to his own ambitions in 2024.
Instead, no matter what happens now, the 46th president will be remembered for guiding America’s recovery from the Trump presidency and the coronavirus pandemic, achieving legislative achievements that will outlast him — and empowering his party. There is a chance to beat Trump again.
Former diplomat Noam Eisen wrote on Twitter/X that his withdrawal was “one of the most shocking acts of patriotism of my life.” David Axelrod, former senior adviser to Barack Obama, added: “History will be remembered for the many extraordinary accomplishments he accomplished as president and for the extraordinary things he does today. Comedian Jon Stewart tweeted: “Legendary. “
Biden’s announcement via social media was the latest drama in a month that has rocked American politics: his poor debate performance on June 27, the Supreme Court’s decision on July 1 to grant broad presidential immunity, the July 13 Japanese attempt to assassinate Trump and secret documents case against Trump failed, Selected JD Vance as Trump’s running mate on July 15.
Future historians will surely look back on the first of these debates as one of the most spectacular own goals in campaign history. Biden’s decline has been hidden from the public for months as he insists on speaking from a teleprompter and gives fewer interviews or news conferences than his predecessor.
If this is a conspiracy, it’s an incompetent one: Biden’s own campaign is seeking a presidential debate earlier than usual to awaken the nation to the dangers of Trump. Instead, the incumbent’s indecision and senility have had the opposite effect, exposing his own shortcomings. From that moment on, the writing was on the wall.
As of Sunday, 36 congressional Democrats have publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race. Party heavyweights such as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and even his former boss Obama have sent powerful signals. Yet Sen. Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others continue to rally around him. The final painful decision was made by Biden alone.
It immediately disrupted the White House race and could put Trump in a difficult position. Suddenly, at 78, he finds himself the oldest major-party presidential candidate in U.S. history — and his gaffes and name mix-ups will be in the spotlight.
The lesson from this year’s elections in the UK and around the world is that anti-incumbency sentiment is running high. If the United States also embarks on the path of change elections, then Trump will no longer be the candidate of change. A man who has been a high-profile disruptor throughout his media and political career must now react to disruption from the other side.
Biden immediately threw his full support behind Harris in her bid for the nomination. This was definitely a game she lost. Some will enthusiastically support her, pointing to the historic nature of her candidacy and how she has made her voice heard on abortion rights since the defeat of Roe v. Wade.
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Tim Miller, communications director for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, told MSNBC: “If you want to sum up the comparison, prosecutors versus convicted criminals who want to protect your freedom. The woman wanted to take them away.
Others will make a pragmatic case that bypassing the first woman, the first black woman, to serve as vice president would be disrespectful, offensive and self-defeating.
“If Democrats want to hand the White House back to Donald Trump, let them enter an open nomination process and disrespect and cross this term,” Democratic pollster and strategist Cornell Belcher said on MSBNC. The first black female vice president is a must for Donald Trump to be re-elected as president.
The events of the past month and the past eight years teach us to expect the unexpected—an open nominating process and a Democratic free-for-all are still possible. But Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were quick to back Harris, and more were to come. After witnessing last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Democrats understand the value of unity.
They also realize that Trump’s entire political career has been built on racial and gender divisions, starting with the lie that Obama might have been born outside the United States and ending with his gendered attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016. The election of Harris, a black woman, would provide the final word on the poetic justice of this era.
Learn more about Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 election:
