On July 21st, Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, made history when he announced that he would be stepping aside and suspending his presidential re-election campaign less than four months away from the general election. Biden has been under strong political pressure from members of the press and in the Democratic party following his disastrous debate debacle against Donald Trump on June 27th. That evening Biden appeared incoherent and struggled to answer questions. Many Democrats ramped up the pressure on the president, who initially remained adamant about staying in the race. Regardless, after reaching the crucial decision, he quickly endorsed Harris, his Vice President. Harris claims she seeks to earn the Democratic nomination. In the several days since the announcement, she raised tens of millions of dollars for her campaign.
Harris has fared better in some recent polls than Joe Biden against the Republican nominee Donald Trump. The race is still projected to be a dead heat. The Republicans held their national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last week, and the crowd was united and energized behind the former president. Trump survived a near-assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullet came mere inches away from killing him; had Trump not moved his head in the crucial moments prior to the shot, he would have died. CNN’s Vance Jones claimed he had not seen a convention like the GOP affair in Milwaukee since President Obama’s campaign in 2008.
Jones also said that in the days that have passed since Biden announced his campaign suspension, Harris has also gained momentum and many Democrats now appear energized behind the Vice President. Jones cited an occurrence on the social media platform Tiktok, where younger individuals have “rebranded” Harris’ laughs and gaffes into inspiring promotional videos. Notably, in the state of Virginia (where Biden and Trump were nearly deadlocked), Harris now commands a 5 point lead over the former president.
