(TotalConservative.com) – President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential contest over the weekend, leaving his staff blindsided by the sudden announcement, with many finding out the news on social media like the rest of the country.
On Sunday, July 21, Biden’s official social media pages posted a letter announcing the president would not seek reelection and would instead focus on completing his term in office. In a subsequent post, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party nominee.
Not everyone working for the White House saw this announcement coming, and up until the day prior, the Biden campaign insisted the president would remain in the race and had no plans of dropping out.
One Democratic staffer told reporters they were “all finding out” about Biden’s withdrawal from social media. Another source claims that Biden’s senior team members received notice about the president only about a minute before the announcement was posted online at 1:46 PM (EST). The change surprised his team, especially because Biden stated the night before that he was staying in the contest.
Rumors began to circulate online that Biden was either in hospice care or dead because he had not been seen since landing in Delaware last week after a positive COVID test. When Harris gave her first remarks after Biden’s endorsement, the president called in via phone, but people still speculated that the call was either a recording or generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
On Tuesday, July 23, Biden made his first brief public appearance since the announcement and was seen boarding Air Force One to fly back to the White House to address the nation formally about his decision to step aside. The appearance dispelled rumors of his demise, but Americans still have questions about how he handled his withdrawal from the presidential race. He is scheduled to speak about the matter on Wednesday, July 24.
Meanwhile, Harris has gained support from the majority of Democratic delegates and is collecting endorsements from Democratic lawmakers, gearing up to face Trump as a last-minute insert while Biden is ushered out of the picture.
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