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On Sunday, President Joe Biden became the first incumbent president to voluntarily decline to run for re-election since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. The decision followed weeks of intraparty debate sparked by Biden’s poor performance in the first presidential debate.
In the statement announcing the decision, Biden said he felt it was “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.”
With Biden endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris less than an hour after he announced he wouldn’t be the nominee, Harris has quickly become the presumptive Democratic candidate.
In a ten minute video posted to X, formerly Twitter, former Alabama Senator Doug Jones called Biden an “extraordinary public servant” and said “this is about democracy, this is about unity.” He went on to say that the Democratic Party needs “to pass this baton to my friend, Kamala Harris.”
Representative Terri Sewell, currently Alabama’s only Democratic member of Congress, also applauded Biden for his decision and endorsed Harris. In a statement, she said she plans to “do everything in my power, from now until November, to make Kamala Harris the next President of the United States.”
Recognizing Harris is likely to cruise to securing the nomination, Alabama Republicans quickly began attacking the vice president.
Alabama Senator Katie Britt tweeted that “Kamala Harris is even more radical on border and immigration policies than Joe Biden” and reshared a tweet from Friday that told voters to “forget the name on the ballot.”
Britt was not the only Republican politician to draw attention to Harris’ record on immigration policy, with Representative Barry Moore tweeting that “Kamala Harris is the Border Czar.” In 2021, Harris was tasked by President Biden with “[addressing] the root causes of migration.”
Other Alabama Republicans used the announcement to relitigate their varied problems with Joe Biden.
Resharing Biden’s announcement on X, Representative Jerry Carl called it a “great day for America” and asked when Biden would pardon Hunter Biden.
Hunter was found guilty on three felony gun charges after lying on a gun purchase form that asked about prior drug use. President Biden has repeatedly stated that he will not pardon his son.
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville released a statement asking Biden to “resign immediately.” He accused the media of “[using Biden] as their puppet for as long as they could” and said “the Democrat elites are running the show.”
Tuberville also said Democratic elites are “trying to gaslight Democrat voters into thinking they have a say” and reshared a tweet saying “the Deep State runs this country.” The senator has repeatedly endorsed theories that Biden has been a “puppet” or tool of the supposed deep state in recent weeks.
Representative Gary Palmer seemingly seconded aspects of this perspective in his tweets reacting to the news, saying that “the Biden White House and the Democrats” covered up Biden’s “severely diminished” mental faculties. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweeted that Biden was “bullied out by his own party.”
Like Tuberville, state Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, was critical of Biden’s decision to decline for run for re-election without resigning. “If it’s because of competency or cognitive issues no way he should continue as commander in chief,” Garrett wrote.
While Biden’s choice is unlikely to significantly affect the results of November’s election in deep red Alabama, Republicans and Democrats seem to believe that it was a boon for the Democratic ticket. Harris has fairly consistently outperformed Biden in the polls recently, though she is still trailing Trump.
But despite Harris receiving an initial burst of support, she’s yet to secure the nomination. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, currently an independent but formerly a Democrat, is reportedly looking at a bid for the nomination.
Former President Barack Obama has also declined to endorse Harris so far, only saying in a Medium post that he has “extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
However, Harris quickly announced on Sunday that her “intention is to earn and win this nomination.” With the DNC yet to call off its virtual roll call set for early August, it seems probable she will secure the nomination shortly.
Biden will address the nation about his decision sometime this week.
