Republicans Call for Biden to Resign Presidency
Mere minutes after President Joe Biden announced he is stepping down from the presidential race, former president Donald Trump called him “not fit to serve” as Republican politicians, sensing blood, clamored for Biden to resign as president.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
Johnson also attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, who received Biden’s “full support and endorsement” to become the Democratic nominee for president. “The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration,” Johnson said.
Sen. Josh Hawley echoed calls for Biden to step down from the presidency: “RESIGN your office. If you can’t run a mere political campaign, you can’t be President.”
“If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he’s certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes,” GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer said on X. “Biden must step down from office immediately.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert joined the chorus of Republicans calling for Biden to step down, posting to X, “If Biden can’t run for office, he should resign. Immediately.”
“If he doesn’t have the mental fitness to be re-elected in 4 short months, he doesn’t have the mental fitness to be President RIGHT NOW,” Rep. Greg Steube posted to X.
Biden dropping out may complicate matters for Trump, who has been preparing to run against the current president. Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita told The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta that the campaign would paint Biden as “stuttering, stammering, walking around, feeling his way like a blind man.” At a rally in Michigan on Saturday, Trump asked his supporters whether they want him to face Biden or Harris, and the crowd boisterously indicated they preferred he run against Biden.
The former president earlier this month said in an interview that he believed Biden would refuse to step aside because “he’s got an ego and he doesn’t want to quit.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information is released.