I hopped in my car to drive from Las Vegas to San Diego Sunday morning as I’ve been asked to direct a new production of HELLO, DOLLY! at San Diego Music Theater. About an hour and a half into my drive, the news broke that President Joe Biden had announced he was stepping aside and passing the Democratic nomination “torch” to Vice President Kamala Harris.
The front page of The New York Times for Monday, July 22, 2024. https://t.co/Qj3VkTWsJJ pic.twitter.com/OKOs0i5azI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2024
My instinct was to immediately write something here on TRR, but I was on deadline to get to San Diego. So all I could do was listen to the news as it all unfolded. And the minute I arrived in SD I went right into 6 hours of auditions. As I wake up this morning, here’s a recap of the main plot points to the new Democratic presidential candidate and what we know so far: • President Biden dropped the news that he will be focusing on serving out his term as president, and shortly after that announcement he publicly endorsed VP Kamala Harris for president. Here’s how several major newspapers handled the news. • Harris’s first public statement: “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Sunday that she would seek the nomination of the Democratic Party after President Biden said he would withdraw from the race and endorsed her. Here is an overview of where she stands on key issues. https://t.co/gN8l9kaheC
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2024
Powerful Democratic leaders quickly embraced Kamala Harris after President Biden’s sudden exit from the 2024 contest. https://t.co/Qytfi3xmmH
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2024
• Predictably, the far-right had a meltdown having made Joe Biden and his age the central argument of Trump’s campaign. And now, at 78, the Donald is the oldest presidential candidate in U.S. history. And his supporters were apoplectic about how to reset their arguments to focus on Harris.
A poetic way to end this year of reckoning with the madness of DEI. It concludes with the DEI Vice President likely becoming the nominee despite not receiving a single vote. Very fitting that the first black female presidential nominee was handed the job and didn’t earn it.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) July 21, 2024
Someone sue the Bidden Harris campaign for a refund and request a preliminary injunction.
That campaign should not be allowed to spend a dollar on Kamala’s behalf until this is fully litigated. — Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) July 21, 2024
• In his first Truth Social statements (because, of course) Donald Trump accused Biden of having committed “fraud”
Someone sue the Bidden Harris campaign for a refund and request a preliminary injunction.
That campaign should not be allowed to spend a dollar on Kamala’s behalf until this is fully litigated. — Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) July 21, 2024
• But some in the Republican party, like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) commended Biden for putting country first and “passing the torch.”
Romney with a verrrry different statement on Biden than the rest of his party pic.twitter.com/VliRuCdn2S
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) July 21, 2024
• All 50 State Democratic party chairs on Sunday threw their weight behind Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s new presidential nominee to run against Republican nominee and former president, Donald Trump. AND Democrats donated more than $50 million online on Sunday and making it the single biggest day for online Democratic contributions since the 2020 election.
All 50 Democratic party state chairs back Kamala Harris, per Reuters https://t.co/p5yhNt3KHl
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) July 22, 2024
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign raises nearly $50 million since Biden endorsement https://t.co/CIFZJSXRkG
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) July 22, 2024
• For a hot second, Sen. Joe Manchin III (I-WV) considered re-registering as a Democrat to compete for the party’s presidential nomination against Harris. He quickly rethought that plan and announced would not be jumping in the race.
.@Sen_JoeManchin confirms he does not plan to challenge Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential nomination:
“I am not intending to run for any political office. And I made that very clear, I’m retiring.” pic.twitter.com/8FefJ7s5Sh — Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 22, 2024
• In a very short time, several key Democratic governors enthusiastically endorsed Harris including Governors JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Wes Moore of Maryland, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Tony Evers of Wisconsin. Several of them have been talked about as possible running mates.
Many elected Democrats announced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket in the hours after President Biden stepped out of the race on Sunday. See who did. https://t.co/QyVWd28ZOQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 22, 2024
Meanwhile, Republicans continued their meltdown as:
• Speaker of the House Mike Johnson threatened “a lawsuit” to keep Biden on the ballot •Trump adviser Stephen Miller called Biden dropping out “the worst attack on American democracy in history” • Conservative talking head Sean Hannity whined about Harris “hating plastic straws” and her laugh • The folks over on Fox News declared Biden’s letter saying he’s stepping aside could be “fake” • And conservative think-tank The Heritage Foundation says it’s getting ready to challenge Democrats’ right to switch Joe Biden for Kamala Harris.
Watching pissed Steve Miller ranting and raving on Fox News about Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, should tell you everything you need to know.
They. Are. Scared. pic.twitter.com/wunJEUQwWt — Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 22, 2024
Hannity: She wants to ban plastic straws. I love my plastic straws. I hate paper straws. pic.twitter.com/B2InDSIFTz
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2024
Lawrence Jones Peddles Conspiracy Theory That Biden Didn’t Actually Sign Letter Announcing Exit From Race https://t.co/zOoXA9Xiri
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 22, 2024
The latest – former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who originally wanted something of a “mini-primary” of possible candidates (saying it would ‘strengthen’ Harris) has now endorsed Harris as the Democratic nominee ending speculation she would push for an “open primary.”
Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Monday that she is endorsing Vice President Harris to replace President Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee after he ended his reelection campaign.
More live updates here: https://t.co/wPMhyGrEvS — The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 22, 2024
And that seems to bring us to where we are now. In the coming days, the Democratic National Committee will determine the exact steps it needs to take to process all of this, Harris will pick a running mate, and we’ll see if any prominent Democrats step up to challenge Harris (but I highly doubt it). #Forward
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