President Joe Biden spoke publicly for the first time since bowing out of the presidential race on Sunday, vowing to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris while remaining president despite calls for him to resign.
It is unclear if Harris wants Biden’s help on the campaign trail. They both have similar average favorability and approval ratings in the mid-30s.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he told supporters on a Harris campaign call.
“I’m going to be out there and campaign with her, with Kamala,” he continued, with a raspy voice. “I’m going to be working like hell, both as a sitting president, getting legislation passed, as well as in campaigning.”
Biden canceled nine trips for the next two weeks, the New York Post reported Monday evening.
“We still need to save this democracy, and Trump is still a danger to the community, is a danger to the nation,” he added.
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising,” he said about dropping out of the race. “It’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do.”
“It’s — I know it’s hard because you poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination, and then go on to win the — win the presidency,” Biden said. “But, you know, you’re an amazing team, but we’ve got a great, great — I think we made the right decision.”
Biden stepped aside Sunday because top Democrats threatened him with using the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to force him out, sources told the New York Post Monday:
Part of the “elaborate” strategy to remove Biden from the race – as he announced in a shock letter posted on X Sunday – was allowing him to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump last month on live TV in Atlanta.
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Democratic Party insiders have also known for at least two years how Biden was in decline, said the source.
“When I saw him a couple of years ago, it was frightening,” said the source. “He was just repeating slogans and had no idea who I was.”
Republican vice president nominee Sen. JD Vance (OH) said Democrats delivered a coup against Biden. “There’s a constitutional process [to] the Twenty-Fifth Amendment,” Vance told Fox News:
If Joe Biden can’t run for president, he can’t serve as president, and if they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. You don’t get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats. If it’s an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way.
Biden will hold no public events all week to explain why he stepped aside, according to the White House schedule released Monday. The lack of a public appearance will increase concerns about Biden’s health.
Many commentators believe that Biden’s lack of a public appearance to announce his decision will fuel calls for him to resign from the presidency, citing fears that he is unable to run the executive branch.
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Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
