Biden relinquishes re-election bid

Power contest

Much, much before President Joseph R. Biden made it known to his Democratic Party colleagues that he intended to contest the 2024 presidential elections, numerous caustic dissenting voices emerged raising the red flag because of Biden’s advancing age at 81years. It’s important to mention here that Biden’s physical fitness has been a matter of great concern; the main question and major block in seeing him fit for the 2024 White House race. This was because of the fact that he had been seen to be physically less active, mentally less alert; making incoherent presentations; often losing link in many public statements.

Besides, even President Biden’s closest friends and senior party compatriots, such as former president Barack H. Obama (Biden’s former boss-first Black US President); the former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senate Democratic Party majority leader Chuck Schumer; California Democrat Senator Adam Schiff; and more than 90 other Democratic Party leaders, had publicly spoken against it. And some actually directly wrote to Joe Biden to step aside the 2024 Race to the White House.

But Joe Biden stuck to his guns and kept repeating that he was ‘firmly committed to staying in the race.’   Somewhat annoyed with persistent sniggers to step aside, Biden hit back in a two-page letter telling all those who had been increasingly going public with a call for him to drop: “And, it’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that’s to beat Donald Trump.’’

But unfortunately, on July 17-18, Biden was tested positive for Covid-19, and experiencing mild symptoms, and flew back from travel to his home in Delaware to ‘self-isolate.’ Earlier, Biden was noticed coughing and reporting sore throat. And perhaps with the impact of his advancing age, this mild illness became widely visible.

In any case, President Biden had been under constant heavy pressure to step down his second term White House Race due to serious concerns about his age, and following a poor performance in the June 27 first presidential debate with former president Trump.

Therefore, on Sunday, July 20, Biden suddenly announced relinquishing his reelection bid for the White House Second Term. At the same time, Biden declared his full support to Vice-President Kamala Harris to head the Democratic Party ticket, defeat the Republican Party nominee, former President, Donald J. Trump from winning the 2024 U.S. Presidency and returning to the White House.

Later, and after having announced his decision to end his reelection campaign,  President Joe Biden said in a letter posted on a social media platform: ‘It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the 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.’

Afterward, Biden messaged endorsing Kamala Harris for 2024 U.S. presidential election: ‘My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice-President. And it has been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee for our party this year. Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.’

Now that Vice President Kamala Harris has been ‘proposed’ to be ‘nominated’ by the outgoing president, the Democratic Party Convention, scheduled to be held in Chicago, Illinois, August 19 to 21, will officially nominate the presidential candidate. However, the presidential candidate will pick her running mate, vice president and running mate, as the campaign picks up momentum.

With endorsing Kamala Harris, a Black Asian-American-African woman, for the country’s highest and the world’s most powerful office, President Biden has achieved a most unique benchmark in American political, social racial history. If elected to America’s top office, Kamala Harris will also be the first ever commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces. Thus, Ms. Harris will make history of sorts first– being the first (correct) Indian-American-African woman to be the nation’s vice president, and the second time, being named for election to the highest American office in November 2024. Earlier, Ms. Harris had served as senator representing California, the third largest and the most populated US state;  California state’s attorney general; and district attorney of San Francisco, California’s largest city. Kamala Gopalan-Harris will be 60 years old on October 20 next, while Republican Party presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, 78, will be the party’s oldest contestant.

While Ms. Harris has made her name ‘in speeches and event appearances …has long been as the embodiment of a country growing more racially and ethnically diverse, has often nodded to her mother and the generations of women of all races who paved the way for someone like her. Her selection as vice president was seen as an acknowledgement of her critical role Black women have played in Democratic victories since 2016,’ noted the New York Times. While Ms. Harris’s Republican Party rival, former President, Donald J. Trump, is a millionaire businessman, four times married, has been a convicted felon, twice impeached and has been waiting to be tried for 34 criminal cases registered against him. According to a renowned Democratic campaign consultant, Anat Shenker-Osorio, Trump has a string of extraordinarily sexist actions other than a woman…who takes on this villain who has made racism his day and his night and scapegoating his central premise and promise but a woman of colour,’ as reported by the New York Times.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris will have to go through various electoral processes before she officially named as the Democratic Party nominee, besides identifying a running mate and vice president. Ms. Harris will inherit the Joe Biden campaign’s 160-strong full-time staff and electoral donations received so far. With nearly 115 days to the November election day, Kamala Harris will have a labyrinthine election campaign cut out for them. Millions of voters, especially Black women and thousands from other communities, are waiting to support the team and roar their path to the White House on January 20, 2025, the Forty-seventh President’s Inauguration Day.