U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris holds a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the United States, on July 18, 2024. This is her seventh visit to North Carolina this year and her 15th visit to the state since taking office. state.
Peter Zay | Anadolu | Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has emerged as a potential replacement for President Joe Biden if she decides to drop out of the race against former President Donald Trump, has more public support from Democratic lawmakers.
California Rep. Mark Takano on Saturday became the 36th Democrat on Capitol Hill to go on record calling for Biden to withdraw from the race. He added that he believed Harris should be the one running the ticket.
“President Biden’s greatest achievement remains saving democracy in 2020. He can and must do it again in 2024 and pass the torch to Vice President Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee,” Takano said in the statement.
“It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the vice president, who can transition seamlessly into the role of our party’s standard-bearer,” he said.
Takano was one of several senior Democratic committee members who expressed concerns about Biden’s re-election campaign in private meetings with House Democratic leadership in early July.
House Veterans Affairs Committee (D-CA) Chairman Mark Takano speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, August 10, 2022, along with members of the congressional delegation who recently traveled to the Indo-Pacific region , DC.
Anna Money Tree | Getty Images News | Getty Images
While some Democrats have been seeking to hold public conventions after Biden exits, Takano has positioned himself within the party as the legitimate heir apparent to the top spot in the race, with at least $91 million in campaign funds.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on Saturday that Harris was “ready to step up and unite the party” if the president decided to drop out of the race. Warren has yet to formally call on Biden to drop out of the race.
“Joe Biden is our nominee. He has a very big decision to make, but we are lucky to have Vice President Kamala Harris. Eighty million people voted for her to step up when needed,” Warren said in an interview with MSNBC.
“Look, if you’re dealing with a convicted felon, a prosecutor like Kamala is a really good choice,” she added.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) faces reporters during a break at the bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insights Forum for all U.S. Senators at the U.S. Capitol on September 13, 2023 in Washington.
Julia Nicholson | Reuters
Concerns about Biden’s age and ability to win in November have left deep fissures within the Democratic Party since Biden’s crushing defeat of Trump in a debate on June 27. Despite his steadfast commitment to stay in the race, dozens of Democratic lawmakers, donors and strategists have called on him to drop out.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that some donors are organizing funds to vet potential vice presidential picks in case the current Democratic ticket changes.
The president remains quarantined from the coronavirus in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, despite widening Democratic divisions.
The Biden campaign has continued to openly and defiantly resist growing pressure to withdraw, pledging that the president will remain in the race and return to the campaign trail after emerging from the coronavirus.
“As soon as we get approval, we’ll be back on the stump,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Taylor told reporters Saturday morning.
Taylor said Biden is expected to return to the campaign trail “in earnest” next week.
Biden completed his sixth round of the anti-viral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid on Saturday and is “stable” in recovery, according to an update from his doctor, Kevin O’Connor.
Meanwhile, Harris is delivering a campaign message. On Saturday, she spoke at a campaign fundraiser in Massachusetts that raised more than $2 million. Harris stepped up her support for Biden by participating in a conference call with Democratic donors on Friday, according to NBC News.
“We know which candidate in this election puts the American people first: our President Joe Biden,” she said. “We’re going to win this election. We’re going to win.”
Until now, conservatives have been basking in the growing divisions within the Democratic Party, especially in the wake of the Republican National Convention, a four-day celebration of their formal nomination of Trump.
On Saturday, Trump’s newly elected running mate, Ohio Senator Vance, took advantage of pressure from Democrats to call on Biden to not only withdraw from the race but resign from office entirely.
“It’s ridiculously cynical for everyone to call on Joe Biden to ‘stop running’ but not call for him to resign as president,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “If you can’t run, , you can’t he should resign now.
Some Biden allies have stayed away from the pressure campaign and instead support whatever path forward the president chooses.
For example, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remain “deferential” about Biden’s decision to continue running, two people familiar with the Clintons’ thinking told NBC News on Saturday.
The Clintons have been actively working to maintain donor support for Biden and have told the White House they will do whatever they can to assist, people familiar with the matter said.
While Biden has acknowledged concerns about his age, he has remained steadfast in his stance on re-election, blaming in part the media’s focus on his political weaknesses, even as some recent voter polls reflect his declining support.
Protesters from a grassroots group called Carry the Torch gathered on the White House sidewalk on Saturday to praise Biden’s record as president but urge him to forgo re-election.
Aaron Regunberg, one of the group’s leaders, shouted: “We are ready to unite behind a new nominee and do whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump in the November election. “We’re asking you, Joe, if you’re listening, to be a hero. Be a public servant and be the leader we know we are. Pass the torch.”
