Monday morning news: July 22, 2024

Biden is out » The Democratic Party is in uncharted waters, pushing the sitting president out of the White House race with little more than 100 days left until Election Day.

After a weekslong pressure campaign within the party, President Biden has agreed to end his reelection bid and make way for a younger nominee.

VOTER: I think it's best. I don't didn't see him beating Trump. And so it will be interesting to see how all things hash out.

One voter heard there echoing the sentiments of many Democratic leaders.

In a letter posted to social media on Sunday, Biden stated, “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.”

Democratic strategist Nathan Daschle said Sunday …

DASCHLE:  I think this must have been an incredibly difficult decision. But President Biden made the right call.

Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month triggered panic within the party about the fate of the election after the 81-year-old president seemed to display severe cognitive decline while debating Donald Trump.

Biden endorses Kamala Harris » The question now, of course, is what happens next?

One undecided voter said she was still weighing her options before this announcement.

VOTER: So Biden dropping out now really kind of changes a lot of what I was thinking as well, having to learn about a new candidate.

Biden has given his endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris to carry the torch.

And she is now prepared to become the presidential standard bearer if she wins the nomination. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell:

DINGELL: We have delegates that will make this election. Uh, she's got to go out and prove that, I mean, people have to support her and those votes are going to have to, uh, be for her.

Harris’ career and political record will be under the microscope as never before.

The 59-year-old vice president was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016 after serving as attorney general of California.

As policy goes, in 2019, the non-partisan group GovTrack scored Harris as the most liberal senator in the country.

Open convention? » While, as the sitting VP, Harris has the inside track for the nomination. Many are calling for an open process rather than immediately coalescing behind a single candidate. But what would that look like? WORLD Washington Bureau reporter Leo Briceno reports:

LEO BRICENO: President Biden is releasing each of the delegates he won in the primary race, making them free agents. They can now support any qualified Democrat for president.

Democrats gather for their national convention on August 19th in Chicago, and here’s how that vote will work on the convention floor:

To win the nomination, a candidate must receive a majority of the nearly-4,000 delegates.

If the party fails to select a candidate on the first round of voting, the convention brings in an additional 739 so-called “automatic delegates,” (formerly called “superdelegates”) for a second round. These are influential Democrats such as lawmakers, governors, and former presidents.

In that case, whoever wins the majority wins the Democratic nomination.

For WORLD, I’m Leo Briceno.

Other possible contenders » But if not Kamala Harris, then who?

CBS news reports that some Democratic donors and officials are asking Sen. Joe Manchin to stand for the nomination. And for his part, Manchin said the party should not simply hand the keys to Harris.

MANCHIN:  A healthy competition is what it's all about. And that's why I believe it should be an open process.

Manchin is now an independent, but was elected as a Democrat and still caucuses with the party.

And CNN’s Jake Tapper reports that the senator is now considering re-registering as a Democrat and throwing his hat in the ring.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is another frequently mentioned name, though he said on Sunday that he’s endorsing Kamala Harris for the job.

And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is currently running a third-party campaign, says he’s open to running as a Democrat:

KENNEDY: I would certainly listen to the party elders if they came to me. I would discuss something with them. I'm the only presidential candidate who can beat Donald Trump.

Other names floated include those of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders.

But Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said regardless of who they pick, the GOP message won’t change

WHATLEY:  Whether it's Kamala Harris or anybody else, they are going to run on the exact same failed agenda that Joe Biden has been running over the last four years.

Trump-Vance campaign » Meantime, on the campaign trail in Michigan, former President Trump ripped Democrats for pushing Biden out after primary voters made their choice.

TRUMP: Sort of interesting; this guy goes and he gets the votes, and now they want to take it away. That’s democracy. They talk about democracy. Let’s take it away from him.

Trump heard there in his first campaign rally since an assassination attempt one week earlier. Security, as one would expect, was significantly tighter.

Secret Service » And Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify on Capitol Hill today about that security failure in Butler, Pennsylvania. House Oversight Chairman James Comer:

COMER: This hearing will serve as the beginning of that process to get answers for the American people as to what went wrong with an agency that has a no-fail mission.

And Oversight Committee member, Congressman Mike Turner said of the would-be assassin:

TURNER: He walked in with a ladder. He had a rangefinder. He had a weapon, he got onto a roof that was within a short distance. All of these failures are obvious failures.

Turner is among the Republican members calling on Cheatle to resign, a growing list that includes Speaker Mike Johnson.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: What the end of Biden’s campaign means for voters. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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