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What to know now that Biden has exited the 2024 race
- President Joe Biden announced that he is ending his campaign for president. "It is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down," he said.
- Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee, as did Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who is a key member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and a growing number of lawmakers.
- Top congressional leaders, however, have stopped short of backing Harris, and still other Democrats are calling for an open nomination process.
- Some Republicans are demanding Biden resign from office, as well, and have begun attacking Harris over her role in border security and what they claim is previous dishonesty about Biden's mental acuity.
- Biden said he would address the nation later this week to speak about his decision.
Trump world has been preparing to run against Kamala Harris for weeks
Trump’s political team has been preparing to run against Harris for weeks, something it got one step closer to today after Biden said he is dropping out of the race.
“We are pretty excited about the fact that he endorsed Kamala,” said Richard Grenell, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and Trump’s acting director of national intelligence. “As we know in California, she has never been vetted. … Kamala Harris is a product of this whole system. She’s very far left, unvetted and untested.”
There is no guarantee Harris will replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, but in the hours after Biden announced he was getting out of the race, he and several other key Democrats, including potential rivals, endorsed her candidacy, making her even more of a favorite than she already was.
Last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee came chock-full of attacks on Harris, while Trump’s speech accepting the nomination was written with no direct mentions of Biden; he ad-libbed just one mention of the president. During his 2020 speech accepting the Republican nomination, Biden’s name came up more than 40 times.
“Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of the United States by far,” Trump said today in a brief interview with NBC News, adding: “We will fix what he has done. He should never have been there in the first place.”
Harris, a former senator from California, has said she still has to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination, but she is the only declared candidate and is expected to have a considerable leg up in the process.
Harris campaign launches X 'rapid response page'
The former Biden-Harris HQ X page has rebranded, changing its handle and username to “Kamala HQ.”
The page announced its launch with a post tonight.
“Welcome to Kamala HQ,” it read. “This is the official rapid response page of Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign.”
Capitalizing on the candidate’s social media renaissance, the account’s bio was changed to “Providing context,” riffing off the meme about Harris’ 2023 speech at the White House.
“You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” Harris said in the now-famous speech. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
The Kamala HQ account also took inspiration from Charli XCX, who endorsed Harris earlier on X. The account spoofed the cover of Charli XCX’s album “Brat,” using the lime green background and font to say “kamala hq.”
Schumer and Harris spoke today
Schumer and Harris spoke this afternoon, per a source familiar with the circumstances.
The Senate is not in session until Tuesday.
Inside Biden’s historic decision to drop out of the 2024 race
Surrounded by a handful of trusted advisers and first lady Jill Biden at his vacation home on the Delaware coast last night, Biden reflected on a political career that spanned more than half a century and began to conclude that it would reach its end earlier than planned, according to people familiar with his decision.
Isolated, frustrated and angry, he felt betrayed by allies who turned on him in his hour of need.
Mad as he was — and still is — Biden came grudgingly to accept that he could not sustain his campaign with poll numbers slipping, donors fleeing and party luminaries pushing him to exit. He may have been slower than other Democratic insiders to make that calculation, but he fully understood it by last night.
The account of this critical weekend, and what led to Biden’s stunning announcement, came from interviews with two dozen Democrats familiar with what transpired.
Rep. Robert Garcia says Biden 'in good spirits' during phone call
Rep. Jasmine Crockett says she spoke with Harris and tough fight awaits
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that she recently spoke with Harris.
While Crockett declined to provide details about what they discussed, she said the call itself was meaningful. “The fact that I did get a phone call from her — and I’m just a freshman member of Congress, y’all — says a lot about who she is,” Crockett said.
“I look forward to this fight,” said Crockett, who earlier today pledged her support for Harris' candidacy. “We have all hands on deck, but if people think this is going to be an easy fight, it’s not.”
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., an influential former leadership member of the House Democratic Caucus, said he endorses Harris for president.
Clyburn, a longtime friend and strong supporter of Biden's, said he had told Biden that he had his full support and that "I was not going to change my mind unless he changed his." Earlier today, Clyburn said, Biden called to inform him that he had changed his mind and was no longer running for re-election.
On the call, Biden also said he would endorse Harris, Clyburn said.
Doug Emhoff thanks the Bidens for 'years of friendship and support'
In his first statement since Biden dropped out, second gentleman Doug Emhoff tonight thanked the president and the first lady for their years of service and friendship.
"I am deeply grateful to @POTUS and @FLOTUS for their years of friendship and support," Emhoff said on X. "President Biden is a true patriot who leads our nation with honesty, decency, and integrity."
Emhoff also highlighted the collaboration between the Biden and Harris offices to fight "tirelessly for families and communities, delivering for Americans across our nation."
ActBlue: $46.7 million raised since Biden dropped out
ActBlue, the leading Democratic online donation processor, said that as of 9 p.m. ET, $46.7 million has been raised through the platform since Biden announced he's dropping out.
"This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle," ActBlue said on X. "Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election."
Democratic state delegations start falling in line behind Harris
With no presumptive nominee, the Democratic nomination is in the hands of the delegates. And a handful of convention delegations in states like Tennessee, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina are announcing their support for Harris.
While the exact whip count of delegates backing Harris isn't clear at this point, what is clear is there's a fast move inside the party to coalesce around her.
Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Hendrell Remus confirmed in an appearance on MSNBC tonight that his state had voted to do so.
New Hampshire released a statement announcing its 25 pledged delegates would back Harris, too.
Helena Moreno, the president of the New Orleans City Council and a delegate from Louisiana, tweeted that her state's delegates voted and "endorsed" Harris. (It's unclear whether there were any holdouts.)
North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton tweeted that all 168 of the state's convention delegates had voted to endorse Harris.
Eden Giagnorio, the communications director for the Florida Democratic Party, told NBC News the "delegation overwhelmingly supports Harris" and will release a statement soon.
South Carolina's delegation said it met virtually and endorsed Harris. (It's unclear whether the support was unanimous.)
Even as state delegations are increasingly lining up behind Harris, it's unclear whether the DNC will opt to hold an open convention and invite other potential presidential hopefuls to participate.