Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement on Sunday that she accepts President Joe Biden’s endorsement for her to be the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee after he announced that he was ending his campaign.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” Harris said. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
She said that she was going to do “everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party-and unite our nation-to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” even though Trump has nothing to do with Project 2025.
“We have 107 days until Election Day,” she said. “Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
Biden said in a statement that he was dropping out of the race because it was in his party’s best interests that there be a new nominee to take on Trump. The 81-year-old said that he was staying on for the remainder of his term.
Shortly after his announcement, Biden released a separate statement endorsing Harris to be the party’s new nominee.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said. “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.”
Former President Barack Obama released a statement thanking Biden for stepping down, but he did not endorse Harris to be the party’s new nominee.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
Republicans, meanwhile, have started calling on Biden to immediately resign from office, saying that if he is not competent enough to run for reelection that he is unable to continue serving as president.
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