On Sunday, President Joe Biden officially ended his 2024 presidential campaign and threw his unbridled support behind his vice president, Kamala Harris, to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
Biden’s decision came as less than a shock. After his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump, concerns Biden could not adequately run against the twice-impeached convicted felon found liable for sexual assault hit a fever pitch. Calls from prominent Democrats for Biden to step aside mounted in the following weeks, and for good reason ― three in five Americans believed the president should end his presidential campaign.
But regardless of how inevitable Biden’s decision to withdraw from the November election appeared to be, his choice to pass the proverbial torch was his and his alone, solidifying the 81-year-old as one of the most selfless politicians in recent memory.
It was also a masterclass in politicking, now that Democrats officially face a Republican nominee who continues to run on a so-called “America first” platform that is, in reality, a “Me First” manifesto. The moment Biden hit “send” on that tweet and ended his candidacy, he did what Donald Trump has never done and has consistently proved himself unwilling to do: Put America first.
Unlike the leader of the Republican party, Biden prioritized unity over ambition. It was clear, prior to his historically rare announcement, that Biden did not want to exit the presidential race. “I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the end, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote in a letter to congressional Democrats on July 8.
Biden then doubled down on his commitment to continue his candidacy, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulous in a recent interview that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to end his campaign.
But eventually, according to CNN, Biden consulted family members and top advisors, and studied “the data coming in” that showed he faced an unrealistic path to reelection. As a result, Biden reportedly “became convinced he would ‘weigh down’ the ticket” and, as a result, decided to drop out of the race on Saturday before announcing his decision on Sunday.
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising, and it’s hard for you to hear,” Biden said on a call to Harris’ campaign headquarters Monday afternoon. “But it’s the right thing to do…I think we made the right decision.”
Juxtapose that decision with those of Trump ― a man whose average approval rating as president was just 41%. In 2021, 58% of Americans said they did not want Trump to run for reelection in 2024, according to one Quinnipiac poll, and in April, 49% of Americans said that if able they would replace both Biden and Trump on the November presidential ballot.
With Trump as the leader of the Republican party, the GOP has suffered substantial midterm losses, and fallen prey to political infighting that has left Republicans focused on usurping their own House speakers and holding erroneous congressional hearings instead of passing anything even close to resembling meaningful legislation.
Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence ― whom Trump supporters wanted to hang during the Jan. 6 insurrection ― has refused to endorse his former running mate, leaving Trump to pick a running mate in JD Vance who once compared the former president to Hitler.
In fact, 40 out of 44 of Trump’s former cabinet members have refused to endorse him, including former national security advisor John Bolton, former white house chiefs of staff John F. Kelly and Mick Mulvaney, and former attorney general William Barr ― all issuing stark warnings to the American public that their previous boss is “not fit to be president,”and “follows his own personal interests.”
But has Trump listened to his former advisors, the polls or would-be voters? Absolutely not. Instead, he continues his desperate attempt to regain the White House so he can enjoy near-total immunity from criminal prosecution ― courtesy of the Supreme Court ― and successfully stall, or even kill, his remaining legal cases.
He attacks polls he doesn’t like, demonizes the people in his former cabinet he once hailed as only the “best and most serious people,” and runs a campaign based on fear and personal grievances. Trump’s idea of “unity” is for everyone to agree that he is a victim, his political rallying cry is one of vengeance, and his incoherent ramblings about fictional cannibals and sharks and electric boats bookend claims that he, and only he, can bring safety and security to the world, despite all evidence to the contrary.
As Trump revels in the MAGA cult of personality that has infected every corner of the Republican party, Biden has reminded the country that a political party is not one person, and one person is not an entire political party.
As a result, the Democratic party is arguably more united and invigorated than it has been in months (if not years), while the Republican party and Trump’s candidacy is in complete disarray. It is clear that Trump World never, for a second, seriously considered the possibility that Biden would step side ― the mere concept of a politician putting party, country and the fate of our nation’s democracy above oneself is, to so-called freedom-loving Republicans, as foreign a concept as bodily autonomy, religious pluralism or no-fault divorce.
“MAGA seems completely flummoxed by Biden’s withdrawal and quick coalescence around Harris,” Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist, wrote on Threads. “But this scenario has been plausible for weeks. What I think is that politicians doing what’s right, rather than acting out of fear and ambition, isn’t part of the MAGA mental universe.”
So while Republicans pitch a public fit ― claimingTrump should be “reimbursed for fraud” after spending money on a campaign against Biden and threatening legal action to keep Harris off the November ballot ― Harris has raised a record-breaking $81 millionsince Biden exited the election. Of the 888,000 individual donors, 60% made their first contribution to a presidential campaign ― an estimated 532,800 Americans who, for the first time this year, have thrown their hard-earned dollars behind a singular candidate. More than 28,000 people have signed up to volunteer for Harris’ campaign, many in key battleground states, and Charli XCX has officially declared “Kamala is brat.”
In just 24 hours, the vice president has successfully positioned herself as the capable prosecutor versus the convicted felon; the younger, mentally sound adult versus the 78-year-old senior citizen prone to violent insurrections and nonsensical speech; the future of the country versus the embodiment of its most misogynistic, racist past. That, Trump, is what you call “winning.”
In France and the U.K., progressive parties successfully united to beat back dangerous right-wing parties. For the good of their countries, liberal politicians set aside their political differences. It wasn’t necessarily about who carried the mantle, so long as the parties hellbent on dismantling democracy were kept far away from the proverbial torch.
By withdrawing from the presidential race, Biden did the same ― he put aside his personal or political aspirations, admitted he is not the sole savior of American democracy, and united the party in the ongoing “battle for the soul of the nation.”
That, Republicans, is putting America first. If it feels weird or even unfair, it’s because your candidate has never, not once, done the same.
