President Joe Biden finally heeded public advice from nearly 40 Democratic lawmakers and donors' private wishes by suspending his reelection campaign on Sunday, the end of a monthlong saga that had many holding their breath and shaking their heads.
Biden stayed in the race even after months of signs showing his physical fitness and mental faculties were in decline, causing many Democrats to beg him to pass the torch on to a new candidate ever since the June 27 presidential debate .
The president endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris , his running mate and stated successor, in his campaign suspension statement on Sunday.
With a few weeks until the Democratic National Convention, eyes will be on the Democrats as they scramble to either rally enough support for Harris or find a new nominee whom they think can defeat GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump in November.
June 27: Presidential debate confirms Democrats' worse fears
For months, Joe Biden had dismissed claims that he was showing signs of declining capabilities. However, his presidency was encumbered already by several gaffes: mistaking lawmakers, asking for a dead congresswoman , falling down stairs and off bikes , relying on teleprompters at events, and other things that had Republicans blasting him as an old, senile man and Democrats cringing.
Then, the president wanted early debates that would give him time to recover if he faltered or made mistakes. He taunted Trump, arguing that the former president "lost two debates in 2020" and said he wanted a debate platform with no interruptions , no live studio audience, and no conservative moderators.
However, the debate was a disaster for both Biden and the Democrats who had long dismissed worries that, at 81, he is too old to serve another term as president. Many lawmakers acknowledged Biden did poorly in the debate but resisted calls for a new nominee , arguing that it was "one bad night" against a decadeslong record of political service and four years of a strong administration.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who was instrumental in the weeks leading up to Biden's decision to drop out, noted the day after the debate that Biden was prepared to admit his performance “wasn’t great” but that from “a values standpoint, he far outshone” Trump on the stage.
“Let’s be really clear. I think what we had last night was an issue of maybe style and substance. But on the substance, the president articulated his message very clearly,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA).
“We’ve both had bad days. We’ve both had bad nights. One night is not who a person is,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), a member of leadership.
July 2: Lloyd Doggett opens floodgates in calling Biden to step down
Almost a week after the debate, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) became the first House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race. He cited the debate performance and commended the president's work over the last four years, arguing the incumbent helped to rebuild the country after the COVID-19 pandemic and the “years of Trump wreckage.”
However, Doggett acknowledged what Biden and his inner circle had failed for weeks to note: the president's polling numbers were slipping, and Biden was losing steam in key battleground states that were already going to produce narrow margins for either candidate.
For Biden’s part, he insisted he could still win the election as the White House sought to turn the page on the debate with a scheduled all-access press conference between Biden and reporters. On the evening of July 2, Biden tried to ease people's concerns while speaking to a campaign crowd.
“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate,” Biden told donors while speaking without a teleprompter. "I didn’t listen to my staff … and then I almost fell asleep onstage."
These explanations confused many, as he took a five-day trip to the G7 conference in Italy and to campaign in Los Angeles that ended June 16. Biden then spent six days before the June 27 debate holed up at Camp David, where his rehearsals reportedly never started before 11 a.m. and he had time for afternoon naps.
July 3: Trump gains 6-point national lead over Biden
What Democrats had feared for months came to pass on July 3: Trump had a 6-point lead nationwide following the June 27 debate.
The poll found 74% of voters said they believed Biden is too old to stay in the White House, a number that was up 5 percentage points since the debate. Even among Democrats, concerns about Biden’s age had increased by 8 percentage points in the days following the debate to 59%.
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics also moved Minnesota and Michigan toward Trump, placing the blame solely on Biden’s debate performance. Minnesota moved from “likely Democratic” to “leans Democratic,” while Michigan was moved from “leans Democratic” to a “toss-up.”
Polling did not dissuade the Biden-Harris ticket. On July 3, the president and vice president dialed into an all-campaign call and asserted he was here to stay as the nominee. Biden also had events planned throughout the Fourth of July holiday in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to meet with voters.
Meanwhile, allies, such as Pelosi and Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), called on Biden to do more
“no-holds-barred” interviews with "serious journalists" to show that he could operate swiftly without guided direction in the form of scripted speeches and teleprompters.
Democratic governors from various states also attended a meeting at the White House on July 3 and many reaffirmed they were all firmly behind Biden . The meeting also revealed that Biden had been examined by doctors in the days following the debate for a cold, for which the White House suffered some scrutiny .
July 4-7: Campaign grasps at straws as more Democrats call on Biden to withdraw
In the days after Doggett's call for Biden to step aside, more Democrats echoed the calls for the president to suspend his campaign and allow the party to pick a new nominee.
Reports began circulating that top Democratic donors were creating a political fund for a possible Biden replacement. Wealthy donor Abigail Disney pledged to withdraw all Democratic contributions until the president stepped aside and there was a new nominee. George Clooney shocked Bidenworld days later by calling on the president to withdraw and noted several interactions that had led Clooney to believe Biden was not fit for another term.
Visitor logs also showed that a top Parkinson's disease specialist visited the White House 10 times since 2022, another piece of news that put the White House on defense.
Still, the campaign grasped at straws to try and return to business as normal. The campaign announced a $50 million ad buy on July 5 and held campaign events in Madison , Wisconsin. That same day, the first clip of Biden's sit-down interview with ABC News dropped, in which the president admitted his performance was a "bad episode." He also said he would not commit to a cognitive test, which has been pushed by some Republicans over the last many months.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) became the first House Democrat in a competitive state to call on Biden to step aside the day after his ABC News interview aired. Later that day, it was revealed that the Biden campaign fed questions to hosts for interviews with the president — another strike against Biden that deepened Democrats' concerns.
July 8: Biden tells Democrats comments on his candidacy need to end
In a letter to congressional Democrats , Biden told his colleagues he would be the nominee and asked them to end talk of ditching him as their presidential candidate.
"The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now,” Biden wrote. “It’s time for it to end. We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.”
“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election,” he said. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a united party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
July 9-11: Eyes on Biden at NATO summit as House Democrats caucus
Many considered the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., to be Biden's last chance to show donors and lawmakers that he had the strength and ability to run a successful campaign. Only a handful of Democrats, at that point, had called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
House Democrats met on July 9 to discuss whether keeping Biden as the nominee was the best path forward. Many left that conversation feeling like the caucus was united behind Biden, while others emerged from the meeting feeling less unified than ever . Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) told reporters the party hadn't made a decision and the conference isn’t “even in the same book."
On July 11, Biden accidentally called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "President Putin." Later that day, he fielded several questions from reporters asking how he felt about Democrats calling on him to step aside, while others asked him why he thinks he is the best person to defeat Trump.
He made Democrats shake their heads when he called Harris "Vice President Trump."
"Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump [Harris] to be vice president did I think she was not qualified to be president. So, let’s start there. Number one," according to a White House remarks readout . "The fact is that — the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again."
Democrats were under the microscope during the week of the NATO summit. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) dismissed concerns that Biden was a liability to down-ballot Democrats — even as more and more lawmakers called on the president to pass the torch.
July 16-18: Democrats push back against virtual roll call for Biden
Congressional Democrats, who were frustrated that the DNC wanted to make Biden the shoo-in nominee through the use of an early virtual roll call, began circulating a letter pushing back against the idea.
At the time of the letter, 20 Democrats had called on Biden to withdraw from the race. In the wake of the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, several of those lawmakers said they would not change their position on Biden's candidacy.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) joined their Democratic colleagues in calling on Biden to withdraw from the race. Democrats eventually halted their letter arguing against the virtual roll call after the DNC told committee members the roll call would not happen until August.
A letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-NY) shocked many in Bidenworld after it was revealed he pleaded with Biden to hear out his Democratic supporters and colleagues about whether to suspend his reelection bid, arguing that there is “no shame in taking a well-deserved bow.”
July 19-20: Floodgates open and Harris is floated as replacement
On July 19, 13 Democrats came out and called on Biden to step aside as the nominee, bringing the total to 35 congressional Democrats as of that day. Notable lawmakers calling on Biden to withdraw were Congressional Black Caucus member Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Pelosi ally Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) became the 36th Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw on July 20.
Only a few, including Takano and Reps. Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Kathy Castor (D-FL), called on Biden to pass the torch to Harris.
July 21: Biden passes torch to Harris
Biden announced on Sunday that he would be suspending his campaign for reelection , a relief for many Democrats but a source of anger for others.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
In a later post, he endorsed Harris as his successor, and several senators and House members quickly headed to X to announce they would endorse her as well.
Some, such as Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), railed at their own party for what they claimed was forcing Biden off the ticket.
"Well I hope the geniuses that pushed the most consequential President of our lifetime out, have a plan," Crockett wrote Sunday. "WHO in the hell couldn’t sell the MF Accomplishments & win over a 34 time convicted Felon who isn’t even allowed to operate businesses in the state of NY (and therefore should automatically be disallowed from say running the country) & his ENTIRE team IS project 2025?! Joe wasn’t the problem… dems were."
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"I know one thing, I will only work for @KamalaHarris! If it’s anyone OTHER than her, enjoy campaign season… I hope all of my disenchanted colleagues are able to find some walking shoes and get to work because I WILL NOT! FULL [STOP]" Crockett added.
"People pushed out an honorable man, loving father and a great president before an absolute sleazeball like Menendez. Congratulations," Fetterman said in a statement .
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