Republicans calling for President Joe Biden to resign could be playing into the hands of Vice President Kamala Harris, strategists told the Daily Caller.
After weeks of insisting that he wouldn’t, Biden announced Sunday via Twitter he was dropping out of the presidential race. The president didn’t specify why he dropped out or give a public address, but many Republican lawmakers are arguing that if Biden isn’t up to run for re-election, he shouldn’t be in charge, either. Strategists warned the Daily Caller that Republicans’ wish of a Biden resignation could give Harris a much-wanted boost in the election.
“The power of incumbency is huge. That’s why, even Republicans, who I absolutely think the world of, are making a mistake doing that. It is still good to have that guy out there bumbling and stumbling on the world stage. It is still good for Republicans to have that guy there. The power of incumbency is strong, and the best way for people to see her as a president is her to be a president,” Robert Cahaly, founder of polling organization Trafalgar Group, told the Daily Caller.
Notice that Pres. Biden never said why he won’t run.
Was it his health? His decline? The polls?
If it was the first two, he should resign the presidency. If it’s the third, there is nothing courageous about this. It’s craven politics as usual. https://t.co/A3YfTAHuDE
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) July 21, 2024
Biden disappeared from the public eye July 17 after he was diagnosed with COVID-19, retreating to his home in Delaware to quarantine. Four days later, the president posted a statement to Twitter, alerting the nation that he was dropping out of the race. Biden didn’t give much of a reason, saying he would address the nation later. But in the weeks prior, Democrats and allies circled the 81-year-old, pressuring him to drop out over concerns for his fitness. (RELATED: Panicked Dems Scramble For Biden Replacement After ‘Disaster’ Debate Performance)
Republicans responded to the news by trying to take things a step further and calling on the president to resign.
But strategists told the Daily Caller that a Biden resignation would create fanfare around Harris, and that celebration paired with incumbency could be enough to lift her over the November finish line.
“If that happened, it probably would be good politics for Harris. I think the excitement of the first woman, female president, a new president would help her campaign, but I think it would be bad for the country,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told the Daily Caller. “I think by the time you do a transition between Biden and Harris, you would be swearing in a new president next January. I don’t think there’s time for that. And I think it’s also — it seems to me, this is the perfect arrangement. Now Joe Biden can focus on running the economy, not have to worry, you know, running the campaign and not having to worry about politics while it frees Harris to campaign full time.”
Among the Republicans making those calls were Trump VP pick Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“At this unprecedented juncture in American history, we must be clear about what just happened. The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on Twitter. “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
At this unprecedented juncture in American history, we must be clear about what just happened. The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election.
Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe…
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 21, 2024
Stefanik echoed Johnson’s comments in a tweet, saying that Democrats were desperately trying to “cover up” Biden’s declining fitness.
If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign.
The Democrat Party is in absolute free fall for their blatantly corrupt and desperate attempt to cover up the fact that Joe Biden is unfit for…
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) July 21, 2024
Everyone calling on Joe Biden to *stop running* without also calling on him to resign the presidency is engaged in an absurd level of cynicism.
If you can’t run, you can’t serve.
He should resign now.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) July 20, 2024
The president finally appeared in public two days after the announcement, quelling some concerns about his health. But prior, social media personalities, lawmakers and pundits alike were searching for “proof of life.”(RELATED: Biden Prompts Calls For ‘Proof Of Life’ With Post-Dropout Disappearing Act)
While Biden pulled a disappearing act, Harris’ campaign ramped up. Harris, donning Biden’s endorsement, says she raised about $100 million. She also made a trip down to the campaign headquarters in Delaware.
Amid the buzz about Harris, Tony Fabrizio, the pollster for the Trump campaign, predicted in a memo that Harris would see a “honeymoon” bump in the polls as freshness and energy surrounded her recent announcement. Fabrizio wrote in his memo that he expected the bump to subside in the coming weeks as the public learns more about Harris’ political record.
Mark R. Weaver, a GOP strategist, argued similarly about Harris assuming the presidency, telling the Caller that her poor leadership would overpower the awe and power the White House and the Oval Office radiate.
Not fit to run for president, not fit to serve as president.
Biden should resign immediately.
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) July 21, 2024
But amid all the talk that Biden should resign, Democrats are scoffing. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden wasn’t stepping down because he didn’t believe he couldn’t serve a second term.
“We believe — and any suggestion of that note is ridiculous. It is not what we believe. The president — I just laid out what the president has been able to do in almost four years, and it’s been successful. He’s been able to do more, again, than any president has been able to do in two terms. He’s been able to do that more in one term,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, encouraging reporters to tune into his address for more answers.
The president, however, did not address concerns about his age in his address. Rather, he simply said it was time to pass the torch to a “younger generation.” Biden shook his head after the Caller asked him Thursday in the Oval Office if he resigned for health reasons.
President Biden shook his head no when I asked him in the Oval Office if he dropped out of the race for health reasons. @DailyCaller
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) July 25, 2024
While believing that Biden shouldn’t or would resign, Democratic strategist Leslie Marshall told the Caller that Harris becoming the president ahead of November would give her more leverage over Trump because she would assume the president’s record in office.
“[Even if] he steps down and she becomes president, she’s now the president of the United States. She automatically gets more, you know, leverage. She’s an incumbent. So every single thing that Biden has done, whether he steps down or not, has helped Democrats and hurt Donald Trump,” Marshall told the Caller.
It’s good to see that President Biden is not going to attempt to subject the American people to potentially another four years of dangerously incompetent leadership. He should resign immediately from the presidency and remove an element of peril for the American people.…
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) July 21, 2024
While some argue that highlighting Harris’ political record may be enough to hand Trump the presidency, assuming the role of president could help overcome all negative press, Cahaly told the Caller.
“It’ll be a complete earned media overload. And there’ll be all these Madam President T-shirts and all this kind of stuff. I mean, we know what’s going to happen if she were to become the president. This is why — what they should have done two years ago was move him out and put her in and let her be an incumbent with two years under her belt right now,” Cahaly told the Caller. “That’s what they should have done, and they didn’t do it. But no, I think the Republicans need to just be quiet.”
