Biden's done. New Democratic candidate and their chances to defeat Trump revealed
US President Joe Biden (photo: Getty Images)
Amid pressure from his fellow party members and donors, US President Joe Biden announced his refusal to run for a second term in office. Moreover, he suggested that the current Vice President Kamala Harris be elected as the Democratic candidate.
Why Biden withdrew his candidacy, what is known about his replacement, and what are Harris's chances of defeating Donald Trump in the election, read in RBC-Ukraine's article.
Content
- The fateful debate
- Pressure and the final decision
- Who will replace Biden
- What are the chances of Harris against Trump
The fateful debate
Almost a month ago, on June 27, the first televised debate between presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump took place in the United States, and it proved fatal for the current American president.
At the debate, Biden looked sluggish, sleepy, and simply “old” against the more active and vigorous Trump (who is only three years younger). This raised concerns both inside and outside the United States about Biden's ability to lead the country for another term.
Moreover, polls showed that Biden lost the debate to Trump, which showed the risk of the Republican and the 45th president returning to power if the situation continues to develop in the same direction.
Photo: Joe Biden and Donald Trump at the June 27 debate (Getty Images)
Pressure and the final decision
After the disastrous debate, Democrats, including their leaders, and Democratic Party donors began to pressure Biden to drop out and give way to another candidate.
The donors even froze $90 million in donations to Biden's campaign, making his withdrawal from the election a condition for unblocking them.
Despite this, Biden has repeatedly publicly stated that he has no plans to withdraw from the race and that only God or deterioration in his health will force him to do so (he contracted COVID after making this statement).
However, today, unexpectedly for everyone, he announced that he would not run for a second term.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is 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,“ Biden said in a statement posted on his X social media page.
Biden's withdrawal from the election race was the first such case in the United States in the last 50 years, CNN noted.
The last time someone refused to run for a second term was in 1968 when Lyndon Johnson initiated full-fledged US intervention in the Vietnam War.
In addition, according to CNN, Biden's decision to withdraw from the election came as a “surprise” not only to observers but also to American politicians, including many rank-and-file staffers of the White House and the presidential campaign.
One of CNN's interlocutors said that most of Biden's campaign staff, including some senior staffers, learned about his decision from a post on social media site X. And the most senior staffers learned a few minutes before the post was published.
Who will replace Biden
The American media discussed more than a dozen candidates for Biden's replacement, but three were considered the main ones: current Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
But Biden chose his replacement himself. In a post on social network X, he suggested that Democrats support Harris as a candidate for the US presidency instead.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats - it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this,” Biden said.
Two sources close to Harris told CNN that the vice president will not appear in public until Biden addresses the nation with an announcement of his withdrawal from the race. However, Harris's allies have already begun to convene delegates ahead of the Democratic National Convention, where Democrats will officially select a presidential candidate.
Photo: Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States (Getty Images)
What are the chances of Harris against Trump
As RBC-Ukraine reported, Harris is highly recognizable due to her years of work in Biden's team. In addition, her candidacy could attract some voters of color and women to the Democratic side.
Polls have shown that Harris would be supported by 50% of women voters if she ran against Trump, while Biden could only count on 44% of women voters.
The vice president also has an advantage among independent voters, i.e. those who support neither Democrats nor Republicans. Thus, 43% would vote for Harris if she ran against Trump, and 34% were ready to support Biden.
But at the same time, Harris is rejected by some in the Democratic Party. Harris failed most of her assignments from the US president, including solving the migration problem. And Trump will definitely use this argument to criticize her.
In addition, Harris does not seem to have a good relationship with campaign donors. According to NBC News, on Friday she had a call with about 300 donors that turned into a “total failure.” The TV channel's interlocutors complained about the sloppy organization of the event, as well as Harris's reproachful tone.
“It was a total failure. It was damaging. It was poor planning,” said one of the interlocutors, while another called it ”ludicrous.”
The TV channel's interlocutors also described Harris's conversation with donors as “mismanaged and rushed.”
However, according to Vox, the Biden-Harris shuffle does have its advantages. The obvious advantage is that the 59-year-old Harris is younger than the 81-year-old US president, she also “knows how to put sentences together” and already has experience in public campaigning against Trump.
The latest polls for July 17-18, published by CBS News, showed that if Harris were to run for office, 48% of voters would support her, while Trump would get 51%. If Biden and Trump faced off in the election, the vote would be distributed 47% to 52% in favor of the current president.
Likely voting poll for July 17-18 (CBS News)
Trump has already reacted to Harris's possible participation in the presidential election, saying that it would be even easier to defeat her than Biden. However, the US election is still more than three months away, and the scenario may change, as Harris has not even entered the race yet.
Read more about who Kamala Harris is and her attitude towards Ukraine here.
Sources: statements by US President Joe Biden, US presidential candidate Donald Trump, articles by CNN, NBC News, VOX, and CBS News.
