Good Morning! Historic : President Biden drops out of the presidential race and endorses VP Kamala Harris. What’s next?

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Good morning everyone—

Sometimes a year of news happens in a week. This was one of them.

Make sure to follow us on the Mo News Instagram page for the latest headlines. It’s going to be a historic couple weeks.

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

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📌 JOE BIDEN WITHDRAWS FROM 2024 RACE

An earthquake in U.S. presidential politics struck around 1:45pmET Sunday. After weeks of pressure from inside his own party, President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 election. It comes just over two weeks before the Democratic Party was set to formally make him the nominee, and 107 days before the general election.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Since his disastrous debate performance on June 27, Biden has been adamant that he would stay at the top of the ticket. But, a number of party leaders, major donors, and ultimately, Democratic voters, turned against him.

Former President Obama, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were among those messaging to Biden for several weeks that he could no longer win, and were about to turn up the pressure further.

• FAST FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND: On Sunday afternoon, Biden officially announced he is no longer seeking a second term in office. He says he no longer sees his nomination as the “best interest of my party and the country.”

  • The decision was made Saturday along with his inner circle of longtime political advisers. They informed him that his path to win in November was closed. The worked on a letter for release Sunday. Biden reportedly told senior staff just one minute before his public announcement.

• In the letter, Biden said he is going to concentrate on the final six months of his term. He plans to address the nation at some point this week (he is still recovering from COVID) — so we will learn more in the days ahead.

BIDEN ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS
In a separate statement, President Biden fully endorsed Vice President Harris for the nomination. The ‘Biden for President’ campaign has also officially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to rename itself to ‘Harris for President.’

• HARRIS PICKING UP OTHER SUPPORT: The Clintons, several dozen members of Congress, the Congressional Black Caucus, several would-be competitors including CA Gov Gavin Newsom, MI Gov Gretchen Whitmer, PA Gov Josh Shapiro, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and others, have already endorsement Harris. It appears she is consolidating party support quickly, as no viable competitors announced a challenge for the nomination yet.

• In a statement following Biden’s announcement, Harris vowed to fight for the nomination: “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination… I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump…”

WHAT COMES NEXT:

• President Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee after securing a majority of party delegates won during each state’s primary election. Biden got over 14 million voters and collected 3,896 delegates. He now forfeits those delegates. Several state delegations may award their delegates to Harris as soon as today.

• To win the nomination, you must receive the vote of a majority of pledged delegates at the party’s roll call (1,976 or more). The DNC Rules Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss plans for that.

• Given the primaries are over, Democratic voters are no longer involved in the process. The process reverts to what used to take place prior to the advent of modern primaries in the 1970s. Convention delegates—including elected officials, party activists, other party leaders—will ultimately decide the nominee.

Where does the campaign money go? The Biden-Harris campaign had $91 million in their war chest as of June. That money can only be reallocated to Harris. It would require some financial gymnastics to enable another potential nominee to access all of it. Notably, following the Sunday announcement, the Democratic fundraising platform, ActBlue, saw a record surge of donations (more than $50 million in a matter of hours).

As of now, it does not appear Harris will face a major challenge for the presidential nomination. That leaves the next question: Who will she select as her running mate?

THE VEEP’S VEEP:
Harris will likely be looking for a VP nominee who can help her win a key battleground state. [Details On Her VP Options]

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly all could help there. Kelly also has a compelling bio as a former Naval aviator and astronaut.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is a choice who won’t be able to help her win his home state (deep-red Kentucky), but is someone who works with Republicans daily, and can help boost her appeal among blue collar workers.

MORE REACTION
In the order they were released, here are key quotes from the statements of some high-profile leaders:

• Bill and Hillary Clinton endorse Harris: “Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her. America’s future depends on it.”

• Obama praises Biden but does not endorse Harris (he wants to allow for an open process): “I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America… We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”

• Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not endorse Harris: “Joe Biden has always put our country first. His vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.”

• Congressional Black Caucus PAC backs Harris: “She has been instrumental in delivering the accomplishments of the last 3.5 years and has led on lowering maternal mortality rates, protecting reproductive freedoms, and ensuring economic opportunities for all. She will do an excellent job as President of the United States.”

TRUMP‘S TAKE
Former President Trump says he is not worried about any of the potential Democratic nominees. He is calling the move to boot Biden from the ticket anti-democratic, arguing it invalidates the votes of millions of Americans who selected him to be the Democratic nominee.

• On the other hand, in recent weeks, polls have showed 65% of Democratic voters wanted a new nominee. That signals a new candidate might actually re-energize Democratic voters.

• Some Congressional Republicans are also calling for Biden to resign from office. Speaker Johnson says Biden must go: “The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot… If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately.”

Meanwhile, in a Truth Social post, Trump says Harris will be easier to defeat than Biden. Trump’s Super PAC already has new ad out against Harris.

BUCKLE UP
The political rollercoaster will continue over the next few weeks and months. Some critical dates coming up:

• August 7th: Democratic National Committee virtual nominee vote

• August 19th: Democratic National Convention begins

• September 10th: Second Presidential Debate

• November 5th: Election Day

The silver lining in this crazy news cycle has been the memes. And when SNL comes back in the fall, we hope Maya Rudolph will be ready!

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Flight cancellations continued Sunday as United, Delta struggle to recover from global IT outage (USA TODAY)

📌 Secret Service says it denied some Trump requests for more security, walking back previous story (CNBC)

📌 Heat-related Texas deaths climb after Beryl left millions without power for days or longer. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

📌 Gunman at Trump rally flew drone over rally (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Israel shoots down missile fired from Yemen after striking Houthis, following deadly Houthi strike on Tel Aviv (REUTERS)

📌 World leaders hail Biden’s ‘brave’ decision to end his 2024 campaign (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 Evan Gershkovich sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison after wrongful conviction. (WSJ)

📌 Another caravan headed through Mexico to the US border (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Business leaders react to Biden dropping out of presidential race (FOX BUSINESS)

📌 Warning: CDC warns of listeria outbreak linked to deli meat that has left 28 sick, 2 dead (ABC NEWS)

📌 Thousands of Disneyland workers vote to authorize a strike (NBC NEWS)

📌 Ticketmaster offers four tickets for $80 to selected shows amid summer concert slowdown (NBC NEWS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 LeBron James bails out Team USA in near loss to South Sudan (NBA.COM)

📌 Fever's Caitlin Clark sets WNBA All-Star Game rookie assist record in Team WNBA's win over Team USA (CBS SPORTS)

📌 ‘Twisters’ rocks box office with powerful $80.5 million opening weekend (VARIETY)

📌 Full-time baby name consultants are raking in $350 an hour as parents search for the most unique names, make wild requests (NY POST)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: JULY 22

• 1937: The US Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to add 6 additional justices to the Supreme Court (total of 15).

• 1974: The Commodores released their debut studio album 'Machine Gun.'

• 1992: Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxury prison near Medellin. He was not found until December 1993, when he was killed by security forces.

• 2019: “Bohemian Rhapsody” reaches one billion views on YouTube. It becomes the first pre-1990s visual to reach the milestone on the platform.