The current President of the United States , Joe Biden, dropped shocking news at nearly 2 o'clock today, announcing that he would give up the campaign and stated that he would support Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024.
The full text of Biden’s statement is organized as follows:
To my fellow Americans: Over the past three and a half years, we have made tremendous progress as a country.
Today, the United States has the strongest economy in the world. We've made historic investments in rebuilding our country, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and expanding affordable health care, bringing health care to an all-time high for the American people.
We provide much-needed care to millions of veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court. and passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world.
The United States has never been in a better position to lead the world than it is today.
I know it all depends on you, the American people. Together we have overcome a pandemic in a century and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
We have protected and preserved our democracies, and we have revitalized and strengthened alliances around the world.
It is the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. Although I had always intended to run for re-election, I believe that what is best for my party and the country is that I decide to put my campaign aside and focus on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.
Later this week, I will address the nation to detail my decision.
Now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who worked hard to secure my re-election. I want to thank Vice President Harris, who has been an incredible partner in all of this. And I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the American people for the trust and confidence you have placed in me.
Today, I stand by what I always believe: there is nothing Americans can't do, as long as we are together and remember that we are the United States of America.
Latest polls between Trump and Harris
Although Biden announced his withdrawal less than four months into the election, the polling data between the two parties does not seem to be as big as expected. According to the latest poll results from "The Hill", Harris' support is about 45.4%, while Trump's is 47.4%. There is not a significant difference between the two sides.
Will Biden's support of Harris Jinli make her the Democratic candidate?
Although Biden stated that he would fully support Harris, this does not automatically make her the nominee . More than 4,000 voting representatives of the Democratic Party are expected to elect their presidential candidate through online nomination voting before the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
Under Democratic National Committee rules, a candidate needs to win a simple majority of delegates. (When all delegates participate, a majority of 2,349 votes out of 4,696 delegates is needed to win the nomination)
Is He Jinli most likely to take over?
However, we can observe based on the following three points that He Jinli’s chance of being nominated currently seems to be the greatest:
- When the Democratic Party stirs up calls for "replacement", Harris is one of the popular candidates to take over.
- According to federal campaign finance regulations, after Biden withdraws from the race, Harris is the only candidate who can directly use Biden's campaign funds (as Biden's deputy, his name also appears on fundraising documents)
- According to the prediction platform Polymakret, the probability of Harris accepting the Democratic nomination has increased to 84%, other candidates account for 7%, and former President Obama’s wife Michelle Obama has 5%.
