Leading Democrats voice support for Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday as their party searches for a candidate to replace President Biden in the 2024 race, now that he took himself out of the race.
Mr. Biden signed Harris after announcing his decision to withdraw, but he has not been able to name a Democratic candidate to fill his spot in the presidential race. The final choice will be determined by a vote of delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which was scheduled to take place virtually early next month. The convention begins on August 19.
“My very first decision as a party nominee in 2020 was to choose Kamala Harris as my vice president,” Biden said in a social media post. “And it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. Today, I want to give my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were among the group of politicians who supported Harris in the hours after Biden’s speech. announcement.
“We join millions of Americans in thanking President Biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for America time and again, his North Star always being what’s best for the country. We are honored to join the President in supporting Vice President Harris and will do everything we can to support her,” the Clintons said in a joint statement.
“We’ve been through many ups and downs, but nothing has made us more concerned about our country than the threat posed by a second Trump term. He has vowed to be a dictator from day one, and the recent ruling by his subservient Supreme Court will only embolden him to continue to tear apart the Constitution,” their statements continued. “Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we have to elect her. The future of America depends on it.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who campaigned for president in her own right in 2020, also released a statement endorsing Harris as the party’s potential nominee this year.
“I am endorsing Kamala Harris for president,” Warren’s statement read. “She is a proven fighter who has been a national leader in protecting consumers and protecting abortion access. As a former prosecutor, she can make a powerful case against allowing Donald Trump to retake the White House. We have many talented people in our party, but Vice President Harris is the person voters have chosen to succeed Joe Biden if necessary. She can unite our party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November.”
Joe Biden’s presidency has been transformational. He’s accomplished more in the last four years — bringing back jobs, taking on big business, and building an economy that works for all of us — than any of us have accomplished in the last four decades. He deserves credit for…
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) July 21, 2024
Biden’s decision to end his campaign followed weeks of unrest within the Democratic Party over whether he would be re-elected and serve another term, since his disastrous performance at the June presidential debate against his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a close Biden ally, wrote: “I agree with the good judgment he has shown in selecting Vice President Harris to lead this country with him, and I am proud to follow his lead in supporting her candidacy to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2024.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose name has sometimes been mentioned as a potential candidate himself, Harris supported.
“Tough. Fearless. Persistent. With our democracy at stake and our future at stake, no one is better positioned to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and lead our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President, @KamalaHarris,” Newsom posted on social media.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran in the 2020 primary, posted on X: “I will do everything I can to help elect @KamalaHarris as the next President of the United States.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have also endorsed Harris.
Klobuchar, who ran against Biden and Harris in the 2020 primaries, told CBS News: “She’s an incredibly strong leader who brings the receipts to this office and to this campaign. … She’s someone who knows the work, knows the job. And I also know her to be a good person.”
The political arm of the Congressional Black Caucus, CBCPAC, endorsed Harris, as did the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Nanette Barragán of California.
“The Congressional Black Caucus PAC joins President Biden in fully endorsing Kamala Harris as our party’s nominee,” CBCPAC chair Rep. Gregory Meeks and caucus chair Rep. Steven Horsford said in a statement. “She has been instrumental in delivering the accomplishments of the past 3.5 years, leading the way in reducing maternal mortality rates, protecting reproductive freedoms, and ensuring economic opportunity for all. She will do an outstanding job as President of the United States.”
Harris said that She plans to “earn and win” the Democratic presidential nomination in a statement released shortly after Biden’s endorsement.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said in the statement. “Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, speaking to Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”
Notable Democrats Who Haven’t Endorsed Harris Yet
Other influential Democratic figures, such as former President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, praised Biden after the withdrawal but did not directly endorse Harris.
Obama issued a long explanation in which he praised Mr. Biden, his former vice president, as “a patriot of the highest order” and “one of America’s most influential presidents.” His statement did not mention Harris or anyone else as a potential replacement on the Democratic ticket.
The top Democratic leaders in Congress, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both released statements that did not mention Harris.