US President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid last week in what Republicans have taken to calling a ‘bloodless coup’. The development came amid mounting pressure for the octogenarian to step aside amid growing concerns about his health and mental faculties. Vice President Kamala Harris is now poised to take on Donald Trump for the top role after securing adequate support.
Major Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson however claim that the Democrats had executed what was tantamount to a 'coup' against Biden. Members of the Opposition party also erroneously asserted that the POTUS had already become the official Democratic nominee.
“The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election. Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite,” he wrote on X.
Johnson has also threatened to file lawsuits in order to try and force Biden to appear as the Democratic candidate on at least some state ballots.
“Every state has its own system and in some of these, it’s not possible to simply just switch out a candidate,” he told ABC News last week.
It is however pertinent to note that the President had simply been presumptive presidential nominee until he decided to withdraw. The Democratic party is slated to officially select its nominee during the National Convention on August 19.
Republican leaders have also been vociferous in their calls for Biden to step down as President.
"Joe Biden cannot take himself out of a campaign for President because he is too mentally incompetent and still remain in the White House. Biden is a national security threat in great cognitive decline and a clear and present danger to every man, woman, and child in our country," Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita and campaign chief Susie Wiles wrote in a recent memo.
It remains unclear, however, how a new candidate atop the Democratic ticket will change the dynamics of the race. Polling has shown Harris’ favorability ratings are similar to those of Trump and Biden. A June AP-NORC poll found about 4 in 10 Americans have a favorable opinion of her, though the share of those who have unfavorable opinion was slightly lower than for Trump and Biden.
59-year-old Harris presents a marked generational contrast to Trump, who turned 78 last month. She would also be the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as president — a potentially barrier-breaking candidacy that could draw new support from women, minority voters and younger voters.
“President Trump is going to run his race and 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,” added Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley.
(With inputs from agencies)
