If Joe Biden Resigns, Who Will Replace Him? | US News

The Democratic Party is now looking for a new presidential candidate after Joe Biden announced he would step down.

In a statement addressed to “my fellow Americans,” he said it was the “The greatest honor of my life is to serve as your President”.

There has been much speculation over whether the 81-year-old would run again amid concerns over his age and fitness.

The president’s team tried to quell unrest within the Democratic Party after his debate performance last month – called an “utter disaster” by one Democrat and a “slow-motion car crash” by another.

Now he has said that he will serve out his term as president, but that he will not seek a second term.

Let’s take a look at who could replace him as the candidate to take on Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris

Biden has endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to nominate him as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president.

In a message on X, he thanked Harris for being “an extraordinary partner” before endorsing her for the party’s nomination.

He said: “Today I want to extend my full support and approval to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year.

“Democrats – it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Earlier, Biden’s campaign had “quietly challenged the viability of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy” Donald Trump in a new live poll,” Sky News’ partner network NBC News reported.

Haris59, the first woman to become vice president, is the culmination (so far) of a career full of firsts and breakthroughs.

She was born in Oakland to immigrant parents. Her father came from Jamaica to become a leading economist at Stanford University, and her mother was a cancer researcher who emigrated from India.

Harris was seen as a pragmatic pioneer, rising from local district attorney to California attorney general to senator. In 2020, he was chosen as Biden’s running mate.

She has high name recognition and is leading in polls among Democrats who could be seriously considered as candidates, Biden campaign sources told Reuters.

She would also take over the money raised by Biden’s campaign and inherit the campaign infrastructure, which would come in handy if she were to run for president.

Her personal approval ratings, however, could prove a stumbling block. A recent poll gave Harris a 29 percent favorability rating, with 49 percent viewing her unfavorably and 22 percent saying they had no opinion or had never heard of her.

Gavin Newsom

California Governor Gavin Newsom, 56, is a established figure in the Democratic Party and among the names mentioned as possible successors – now or later.

However, he has repeatedly resisted calls to replace Biden and has said he would not run for president against Harris.

He has a background in business, first in the hospitality industry and then in politics.

Newsom first came to national attention when, while mayor of San Francisco, he joined other city officials in issuing same-sex marriage licenses in direct violation of state law at the time.

His popularity continued to rise and in 2019 he overwhelmingly won the highest office in his state, becoming Governor of California.

He is seen as a strong voice within the party and a talented debater, but his critics point to his poor record in a number of key areas in his state.

This includes high homelessness, drug problems, immigration issues, legislation and safety, high taxes and much more.

Gretchen Whitmer

Gretchen Whitmer’s meteoric rise over the past two decades — from law school to governor of Michigan — has established her as a prominent figure within the Democratic Party.

Her status was cemented in 2022 with a decisive re-election and her party’s success in capturing both chambers of the state legislature, giving Democrats full control for the first time in nearly four decades.

Whitmer has raised the issue of abortion access in her role as co-chair of the Biden campaign, saying he is on the “right side” of the abortion fight despite his lackluster performance in the recent debate over the issue of reproductive rights.

She accuses Trump of stoking political hatred that led to a plot to kidnap and murder her, which was foiled by the FBI in 2020.

When asked if she would run this year if Biden were to leave office, she replied resolutely, “No.”

Read more:
President Biden’s Various Blunders Over the Years
George Clooney Begs Biden to Drop Re-Election Bid

Josh Shapiro

“Get s*** done” is Josh Shapiro’s slogan for how he wants to run Pennsylvania.

The governor is a rising star within the Democratic Party and is seen as one of the few governors who built their national profile and positioned themselves for a race to the White House in 2028 — before the problems with Biden came to light.

However, the 50-year-old son of a doctor and former state legislator, district commissioner and state attorney general, supports the president.

“Here’s the heart of the matter. Joe Biden had a bad debate night, but Donald Trump was a bad president,” Shapiro said on CNN, adding that Democrats “need to stop worrying” and “start working.”

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is known and popular for her time as first lady, when her husband Barack Obama was president. There are many Democratic politicians who would like to see Michelle Obama as a candidate for their party.

Trump supporters are fixated on the idea of ​​Michelle Obama replacing Biden in an attempt to undermine the president’s political viability and energize the Republican Party base.

An Ipsos poll found that she is the only hypothetical candidate who could definitively defeat Trump outright, and she also tops the list of most popular candidates among registered voters.

But would she be interested?

Earlier this year, her office told NBC News that she did not plan to run for office in 2024.

One of her aides pointed to her conversation with Oprah Winfrey last year to illustrate her thinking — and why she herself would likely never appear on the ballot.

“Politics is hard,” she said in the Netflix special. “And the people who get into it… you have to want it. It has to be in your soul, because it’s so important. It’s not in my soul.”