Several possible candidates who have been identified by analysts as a possible replacement for Biden have backed the vice president to take the Democratic nomination.

Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, is the latest potential challenger to do so.

“Kamala Harris is now the right person to take up the torch, defeat Donald Trump, and succeed Joe Biden as president,” Buttigieg said in a statement.

Liberal Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the latest US legislator  to endorse Harris.

“I pledge my full support to ensure her victory in November,” she wrote on X. “Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy.”

Biden, who is recovering from COVID-19, has been working the phone since ending his re-election bid on Sunday, according to the White House.

“Today the President has spoken to a number of Members of Congress, governors, and supporters, and will continue to engage with key stakeholders tonight and tomorrow,” the White House said in a statement.

A former prosecutor and senator, Harris made history as the first Black woman to serve as vice president. Now, she can break another barrier as the favourite to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

 

 

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As dozens of Democratic legislators are backing Harris, Lloyd Doggett has defied the emerging consensus by calling for a competitive race for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

“I continue to urge a fair, open, and democratic process to select the nominee best able to convince battleground voters to reject Trump’s dark, retribution-fuelled plans,” Doggett said in a statement.

“While, with President Biden’s endorsement, Vice President Harris is clearly the leading candidate, we should be open to all talented individuals, who wish to be considered.”

More than 4,000 Democratic officials and activists – known as delegates – will choose the party’s nominee at the convention in Chicago next month.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has become the latest possible challenger to endorse Harris in a sign that the party is embracing the vice president as its champion.

But the situation remains fluid and new challengers could emerge.

They include West Virginia Senator Manchin, who left the Democratic Party earlier this year to become an independent.

His longtime adviser, Jonathan Kott, has told the Associated Press that the senator is considering re-registering with the party to challenge Harris for the ticket.

Manchin was one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress before his departure.

The governor of California, the most populous state in the country, had been seen as a top contender to lead the Democrat’s ticket in November.

He has now joined Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in endorsing Harris. The move is the latest sign that the party, and its prominent members, are coalescing around Harris.

“Tough. Fearless. Tenacious,” Newsom wrote of Harris, who is also from California.

“With our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President Kamala Harris.”

Political analyst Eric Ham says it remains to be seen how the Democratic Party’s base will respond to Biden’s decision to step down.

“We have to be clear-eyed about this…This was not the voters, this was not rank-and-file Democrats who actually called for Joe Biden to step down,” Ham told Al Jazeera.

Several public opinion polls suggest that most Democrats want a different nominee than Biden but many Congress members have vocally called on the president to step aside in recent weeks.

“These were congressional Democrats, elected lawmakers and very influential donors who, for nearly a month now, have been calling for the president to step down,” Ham added, noting that some donors had threatened to not only withhold funding to Biden but to down-ballot Democrats as well.

“What we saw here is that influence and that money spoke very, very loudly, and Joe Biden simply heeded that call.”

It is now 8:30pm Eastern Time in the US (00:30 GMT). Here are some of the latest developments in the US presidential race:

• After weeks of speculation over his political future, Biden has withdrawn from the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
• Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have backed Harris for the presidency as the party coalesces around her candidacy.
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is seen as a potential contender for the Democratic nomination, has also endorsed Harris.
• Trump has slammed Democrats, saying they knew that Biden was not able to run for, or serve as, president.
• Palestinian rights advocates decry Biden’s legacy, saying the US president will be remembered for supporting Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.

The Reuters news agency has reported that party leaders are throwing their weight behind Harris, citing sources familiar with the matter.

That show of support would bode well for Harris and indicate that the delegates Biden won during the primary are likely being advised to support the vice president.

The chairs held a conference call on Sunday following Biden’s announcement that he was stepping aside as the party’s candidate, according to Reuters.

Maxine Waters, a key congresswoman, cites Biden’s endorsement for the vice president in a statement backing Harris, calling the president a “kind and decent” man.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has my full support,” Waters wrote in a social media post.

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action says the US president will be remembered for his support for the Israeli “genocide” in Gaza.

“It was not Biden’s failed debate that showed he is unfit to lead. It was the tens of thousands of bombs he sent to kill Palestinian families,” the group said in a statement.

“It was his callous, dystopian disregard for Palestinian lives.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised what he called the “bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times” and expressed gratitude for Washington’s support to Kyiv.

“We respect today’s tough but strong decision,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Rebekah Caruthers, the vice president of the Fair Elections Center, has said it is imperative for the Democratic party to make any nomination process as transparent and digestible to voters as possible.

When it comes to Harris, Caruthers said, she “can’t view this as a triumph or doing a victory lap”.

“She has to show that she’s willing to talk to people, willing to earn the nomination, because it is not a done deal,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Over the next couple weeks, we are going to have to see soft politics to make sure that people moving forward are comfortable.”

Several Republicans have connected Biden’s decision not to run for re-election to his ability to govern until the end of his term early next year, arguing the move is evidence he is not fit for office.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has been pushing that argument, as has Representative Elise Stefanik.

Senators Rick Scott and Mike Lee are the latest to join the chorus.

“If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign now!” Scott wrote on X.

Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, who is seen as a potential Democratic nominee, has thrown his support behind Harris.

Shapiro’s high approval rating in a state that Democrats must win in November had made him a leading possible contender for the nomination.

In a statement posted on X, he said the “best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite behind Vice President Harris and refocus on winning the presidency”.

Concerns about Biden’s age are not new and the president has a long history of verbal gaffes.

But a disastrous debate performance against Trump raised eyebrows and sparked a wave of calls for Biden to step down, which led to his eventual withdrawal.

While Biden appeared exhausted throughout the debate and confused at times, one answer about the national debt stood out.

“We have a thousand trillionaires in America – I mean, billionaires – in America. And what’s happening? They’re in a situation where they, in fact, pay 8.2 percent in taxes. If they just paid 24 percent or 25 percent, either one of those numbers, they’d have raised $500 million – billion dollars, I should say, in a 10-year period,” the US president said.

“We’d be able to right – wipe out this debt. We’d be able to help make sure that – all those things we need to do, childcare, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the COVID – excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with.

“Look, we finally beat Medicare.”

We have heard from Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. He’s the first person who we heard from Israel’s ruling coalition, but we have not yet heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gallant stressed thankfulness for the support that Joe Biden has given Israel throughout Israel’s war on Gaza, whether that be support via weapons or support on the phone, with many phone calls between these leaders.

But you have to remember that members of the far-right government, members of Netanyahu’s own coalition, people who are known ultra-nationalists, have previously said that they were waiting for Trump to be back in November.

It’s also worth mentioning that … the US-Israeli relationship, in terms of geopolitics, is quite solidified in terms of how the war will be prosecuted in the future.

Whoever the Democratic nominee will be, that will remain the same.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken has said that it is the honour of his life to work with Biden.

“He has restored US leadership around the world and delivered historic accomplishments as president,” Blinken said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Biden “renewed, deepened, and broadened the unmatched global network of alliances and partnerships that makes America more secure”.

“The entire Department of Defense stands united today in saluting President Biden’s service to the country that we defend, the Constitution that we revere, and the republic that we love,” Austin said.

In one of his recent gaffes, Biden appeared to forget Austin’s name and referred to him as a “Black man”.

Naftali Bennett, who served as prime minister for one year between 2021 and 2022, says he witnessed Biden’s “unwavering support” for Israel while in office.

“President Biden is a true friend of Israel who stood by us in our most difficult moments,” he wrote in a social media post.

During Bennett’s tenure, Israeli forces fatally shot Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen, in the occupied West Bank. The then-prime minister falsely claimed after the incident that the journalist was killed by armed Palestinians.

IfNotNow, a youth-led Jewish American organisation, says it is “relieved” by Biden’s decision to step aside, “given the urgent need to avert a second Trump presidency”.

“If Vice President Harris is serious about winning, she must reflect the will of the majority of Democrats and Americans, including American Jews, by supporting a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and an offensive arms embargo on the Israeli military,” IfNotNow said in a statement.

Numerous public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Biden summoned his closest advisers late on Saturday night to put together his announcement to quit the presidential race, according to US media reports.

However, he did not tell the rest of his senior staff about the decision until just one minute before going public, the reports said.

The New York Times, which was among the outlets reporting the one-minute notification, also said that Harris was not notified until the day of the announcement.

Lisa Murkowski, one of the few Republican critics of Trump in the US Congress, writes in a social media post: “I respect President Biden’s decision to act in the best interest of the country by stepping aside in the 2024 presidential election.”

It remains unclear if Harris will indeed go on to be the Democratic Party’s candidate in the November 5 election, but she has already inherited Biden’s campaign infrastructure.

Following Biden’s announcement today, his campaign swiftly moved to change its name from “Biden for President” to “Harris for President”.

That is believed to give Harris access to the campaign’s $96m of cash on hand.

The progressive US senator heaped praise on the Democratic president, highlighting Biden’s support for auto workers who had gone on strike last year.

“Joe Biden has served our country with honor and dignity,” Bernie Sanders wrote in a social media post.

Despite disagreements over Biden’s unwavering support for Israel, Sanders had emerged as one of the president’s most vocal defenders in recent weeks.

“Kamala Harris was in on it,” the ad says, accusing the vice president of being involved in an effort to cover up Joe Biden’s fitness to serve.

Make America Great Again Inc, the top super PAC supporting Trump, released the ad just minutes after Biden announced he would not run for re-election and endorsed Harris.

The ad further attempts to connect Harris to Biden’s policies on the economy and immigration, saying that she “owns this failed record”.

Super PACs (political action committees) operate independently of the campaigns they back.

The Republican candidate’s campaign has been accusing Harris of lying and covering up for Biden to conceal his health issues.

“But after President Trump’s debate, there was no more hiding it,” campaign adviser Jason Miller said in a post retweeted by Trump’s campaign account on X. Miller referred to Trump as the president, rather than Biden.

Last month, 81-year-old Biden seemed to lose his train of thought during the debate at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

Miller also suggested Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, should be questioned on the matter.

A self-proclaimed Zionist, Joe Biden has been a staunch defender of Israel throughout his decades-long political career.

As president, he pushed on with Washington’s unconditional support for Israel and put the US in further alignment with its Middle East ally despite growing international outrage over Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Here are some of Biden’s pro-Israel policies:

• Sticking by Donald Trump’s agenda: The US president kept the US embassy in Jerusalem and refused to reverse Washington’s recognition of Israel’s claimed sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights. He also pushed on with efforts to establish formal relations between Israel and Arab states independently of the Palestinian question.
• Netanyahu “bear hug” amid Gaza war: Shortly after the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year, Biden voiced unwavering backing for Israel. He put that support on full display when he visited Israel and embraced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in October 2023.
• Questioning Palestinian death toll: Biden sparked outrage last year when he raised doubt over the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks. “I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” he said at that time.
• Vetoing ceasefire resolutions: The US has blocked three proposals at the UN Security Council that would have called for the end of the war. The Biden administration also voted against similar measures at the UN General Assembly.
• Weapons and aid to Israel: The US has steadily transferred bombs and arms to Israel during the conflict, with Biden and his top aides stressing that their commitments to the country’s security are “ironclad”. In April, Biden signed off on $14bn in additional military assistance to Israel.
• Rebuking ICC: The White House slammed International Court of Justice prosecutors for pursuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu over possible war crimes. “The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in a statement in May.