Joe Biden latest news: New theory emerges of why he really delayed ending his campaign

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

President Joe Biden was hesitant to end his reelection bid because he was worried his VP wasn’t up to taking on Donald Trump in November.

Vice President Kamala Harris received Biden’s endorsement moments after he decided to drop out of the 2024 race on Sunday.

But three Biden aides familiar with recent talks about the decision told Axios that the President doubts Harris can beat Trump.

Harris’ three-and-a-half-years as VP were marred by staff turnovers attributed to her treatment of the team, as well as a failed policy portfolio that included a disastrous handling of the migrant crisis in her role as Biden’s ‘border czar.’

The same day Biden stepped aside and endorsed his No. 2, a slew of senior Democrats and Party leaders came out to show their support for Harris. This included the likes of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as lawmakers like Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

But a poll of Georgia voters conducted before Sunday revealed Trump is ahead by Harris 51 percent to 46 percent in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup – meaning she doesn’t fare any better than Biden in her chances against the former president.

When she ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, Harris performed poorly and often only received low single digits in polling against the other candidates.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave a full endorsement of Kamala Harris for president on Monday morning.

‘The Vice President is ready. She has my full endorsement. I’m going to do everything I can to endorse her,’ he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

The Democrat who recently won a red state has been floated as a potential running mate. He sidestepped questions over whether he would join the ticket, saying he loves his current job.

‘The only way I would consider something other than this current job is if I could further believed I could further help my people and to help this country,’ Beshear said.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is a top name being floated as a potential Kamala Harris running mate.

The term-limited governor endorsed Harris on Sunday. He confirmed on Morning Joe Monay morning that he spoke to Harris. He said they discussed winning the election.

When asked about joining the ticket, Cooper said the conversation needs to remain focused on Harris. He said the conversation about vice presidential picks needs to occur later.

‘I want to make sure Kamala Harris wins,’ he said.

Cooper argued Harris at the top of the ticket changes the dynamic in North Carolina.

‘I’ve seen immediate excitement here,’ he said.

Congressional Democratic leaders are split over whether they are backing Vice President Kamala Harris for president after Joe Biden’s bowing out of the presidential race on Sunday.

Notably, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have not endorsed Harris.

Other lesser-known members of leadership, however, have announced their support of the vice president

Here is the full list of Capitol Hill Democratic leaders throwing their support behind Harris:

• Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Michigan
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts
• Sen. Mark Warner, Virginia
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnessota
• Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada
• Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
• Sen. Brian Schatz, Hawaii
• Rep. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
• Rep. Pete Aguilar, California
• Rep. Ted Lieu, California
• Rep. Joe Neguse, Colorado

Vice President Kamala Harris has raised almost $50 million in grassroots donations since President Joe Biden endorsed her on Sunday afternoon, the campaign announced early Monday morning.

‘Since the President endorsed Vice President Harris yesterday afternoon, everyday Americans have given $49.6 million in grassroots donations to her campaign,’ the campaign said in a statement.

Biden endorsed Harris moments after he announced his decision to exit the presidential race.

The Biden campaign has renamed itself Harris for President.

Despite weeks of crisis talks and dozens of Democrats calling for him to step down, Joe Biden’s Sunday decision to withdraw still managed to take America – and most White House and campaign staffers – by surprise.

The 81-year-old president was isolating with COVID at his $3.4 million holiday home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, when his shrinking inner circle handed him polling data showing he could no longer beat Donald Trump after his train-wreck debate performance over three weeks ago and the poor handling of its aftermath, sources have confirmed.

That was when they were finally able to convince a reportedly angry Biden to draft a letter saying it was time for him to step aside for the good of the Democratic Party with donors pulling millions of dollars in pledged funds and the list of elected Democrats telling him to drop growing by the minute.

Jill Biden was by her husband’s side when he eventually made the historic call, giving into mounting pressure. But a spokeswoman for the First Lady said it was the president’s judgment alone, and confirmed he made it late.

‘Down to the last hours of the decision only he could make, she (Jill Biden) was supportive of whatever road he chose,’ the spokeswoman said. ‘She’s his biggest believer, champion, and always on his side, in that trusted way only a spouse of almost 50 years can be.’

Here’s how a seemingly foregone conclusion somehow managed to stun the nation:

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will face a barrage of questioning Monday morning as lawmakers seek answers on how the biggest Secret Service breach in four decades took place under her watch.

Monday’s hearing marks the first time the public will hear extensively about what happened from Cheatle under questioning from the House Oversight Committee.

Since the July 13 shooting, she’s done no press conferences and very few interviews, but has insisted she will not resign.

Comer said on Fox News Sunday the hearing would go on for six hours and Cheatle would face ‘hundreds of questions.’

‘The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but it has now become the face of incompetence,’ Comer will say at the hearing, according to his opening remarks obtained by DailyMail.com.

Donald Trump piled on President Joe Biden on Monday morning, claiming he ‘doesn’t remember quitting the race’.

The former president also stated that the 81-year-old is ‘arranging talks with Presidents Xi of China and Putin of Russia, concerning the start of World War 3’.

Trump has demanded Biden resign from office, suggesting that he can’t run the country if he doesn’t have the faculties to run again in 2024.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

The main Super PAC backing Donald Trump released an ad claiming Vice President Kamala Harris helped cover up Joe Biden’s mental decline.

It came out in key swing states of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania just hours after President Biden announced on Sunday he was ending reelection bid.

The MAGA Inc.’s ad narrator said:

Kamala was in on it. She covered up Joe’s obvious mental decline…Kamala owns this failed record.

In just 106 days the US will elect a new President with Donald Trump for the Republicans likely to face off against Kamala Harris for the Democrats although her nomination is not confirmed.

With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race last night, even more eyes will be glued to events in the US so here are some key dates to keep in your diaries

• Democratic National Convention

The four-day convention takes place from August 19 to 22 and is where a candidate, most likely to be Ms Harris, will be finalised to lead the party on November 5.

Delegates from each state and territory will nominate their presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Before he exited the race, President Biden agreed to two televised debates with Donald Trump – the first of which led to concerns about his durability for a second term.

On September 10, the second debate takes place on ABC.

Ms Harris finds herself in a strong position for the Democratic nominee on Monday given endorsements from President Biden and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

But it is by no means certain she will lead the Democrats on Election Day

Full scale internal Democratic election processes cannot take place as Biden has already been chosen as the candidate, so contenders will have to put themselves forward at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.

Let’s take a look at who they could be:

Rose to prominence during the Pandemic by criticising Trump’s handling of the crisis – then shot on to front pages when a plot was hatched by extremist Trump supporters to kidnap her.

Advocates greater gun control and cleaner energy, the very opposite of Trumpism.

Wife of former president Barack Obama

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, she is known to the world because while working as a young lawyer was a colleague of future president Mr Obama. They have been married 32 years, and have two daughters.

She impressed many as First Lady – and her 2018 memoir, Becoming, has sold 11. 5m copies. Has not suggested she would stand.

Rated for his telegenic looks – but likely to face problems over the current condition of the ‘Golden State’. California faces budget problems, and distinctly un-telegenic images of crime, drug and homelessness problems in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

An impressive speaker who has won praise for his governorship of what is a key swing state – and, remarkably, one poll suggested more than a third of Trump supporters locally like him. Less well-known nationwide, he is a conservative Jew who keeps the Sabbath and follows a kosher diet.

He certainly defies the trend for elderly presidential candidates – and would also be the first openly gay man to occupy the White House. Graduated from Harvard, and was also, like former Democrat president Bill Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Served in Afghanistan as an lieutenant in the US Navy reserve.

Known to millions around the world as a heart-throb film star, who has won an acting Oscar for his supporting role in Syriana, and another for co-producing Argo, he is also a leading Democrat supporter and fundraiser. Married to glamorous British human rights lawyer Amal. Has not suggested he would stand.

U.S. Senator from West Virginia

Reports emerged Sunday that the Democrat-turned-independent U.S. senator is considering reaffiliating with the Democratic Party to run for the nomination in November.

Earlier on the Sunday shows, Manchin made the rounds calling on Biden to end his reelection bid – but the moderate lawmaker insisted that the hosts stop asking him if he would run for President, saying: ‘Forget about me.’

Early polls showmixed signals for Kamala Harris if she were to secure the Democratic nominee with some overall positives but potential flaws in the key swing states.

In swing states, areas of the US that could be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate, and even states that have turned reliably blue in recent elections, Harris out-polls Joe Biden even when losing.

She’s within one point – 48-47 – of Trump in Pennsylvania, besting Biden, who was losing 48-45 to Trump.

In Virginia, she leads Trump by five points over Biden, who only leads Trump by four percentage points.

However, those polls were conducted before the assassination attempt on former President Trump and before Biden dropped out.

In a poll conducted from July 9-18 surveying 1,000 Georgians, Trump leads Harris by a 51-46 count, however Harris polled better than Biden among all voters, black voters and Democrats.

The British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken about Joe Biden’s decision to exit the presidential race and not seek re-election to the White House.

Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow, Sir Keir said:

I respect that decision that he has now made.Not an easy decision, but a decision that I know that he will have arrived at taking into account the best interests of the American people, and I look forward to working with him for the remainder of his presidency.

Donald Trump claimed that Joe Biden’s positive COVID test was phony, demanded he resign and issued an ultimatum to likely new opponent Kamala Harris.

Trump made a series of posts to his Truth Social account attempting to destroy the narrative around Biden’s decision, including the positive COVID-19 test that left the president at home the past few days.

The former president added that he believes Biden is ‘going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!’

A slew of Hollywood A-listers have backed Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump for the presidency since she was endorsed by President Biden.

Victory would mark the historic achievement of being the first woman to be elected US President.

To see who is backing her on November 5, see the video below:

President Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race leaves Democrats scrambling to replace him with less than four months to go before Election Day.

What follows will be an unprecedented chain of events with Kamala Harris the favorite but by no means certain to become the party’s nominee.

The Democratic National Convention runs from August 19 to 22 in Chicago and Biden had been expected to formally accept the nomination there.

What are the nominating rules?

The Democratic party does have rules in place which determine what happens should the president step aside before being formally nominated.

While Biden had the necessary delegates his formal nomination was set to take place during a virtual roll call before the convention. The latest guidance is that it would happen in the first two weeks of August, but not before August 1.

Because Biden exited the race before officially becoming the nominee the more than 3,900 pledged delegates get to cast their ballots in an open convention for whichever candidate they want.

Every alternative to Biden whose name had been floated prior to him dropping out of the race insisted they were backing Biden. It’s not clear who would jump in the race aside from Harris with his departure.

If a candidate wins the majority of pledged delegates on the first ballot, they become the party nominee.

If no candidate gets a majority, then the nearly 740 so-called ‘superdelegates’, also known as automatic delegates, get to vote as well. They include a mix of party members and elected officials.

Voting continues until a candidate gets a majority of delegates.

Our reporters Emily Goodin and Nikki Schwab have the inside track on the decision that ‘completely blindsided’ the White House as Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday.

The 81-year-old president was isolating with COVID at his $3.4 million holiday home in Delaware, when aides showed him data that convinced him he was no longer able to beat Donald Trump.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage after President Joe Biden sensationally dropped out of the race to take on Donald Trump for the US presidency in November.

President Biden has endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the party against the Republicans while senior Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton have shown their support for who could be the first female commander-in-chief.

We will bring you all the latest news and reaction as world leaders have their say on President Biden’s bombshell decision.