Many Democrats on Sunday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee against Donald Trump after incumbent President Joe Biden abruptly dropped out of the race, but some powerful party members, including former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, remained silent.
After weeks of infighting among Democrats over whether Biden, 81, should stay in the race, the outpouring of support behind him just 100 days before the November election is significant.
However, there is considerable doubt within the Democratic Party about whether Harris will be able to defeat Trump in November.
On Sunday, Biden himself endorsed Harris, but not in his initial letter of resignation but in a separate statement. He was soon followed by the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, several major donors, lawmakers including US Senator Patty Murray, and super PACs including Priorities USA and Unite the Country.
“Today I want to give Kamala my full support and endorsement to be our party’s nominee this year,” Biden said on the social media platform X. “Democrats — now is the time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s make it happen.”
Dmitry Mehlhorn, an adviser to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and a major Democratic donor, called Harris “the embodiment of the American dream,” noting that she is the daughter of immigrants. “She is also the embodiment of perseverance, rising from my hometown of Oakland, California, to become the state’s top prosecutor. With Scranton Joe stepping down, I can’t wait to help elect President Harris.”
Still, others, including Pelosi, thanked Biden for his patriotism but have not yet thrown their support behind Harris or any other candidate.
U.S. Senator Peter Welch, the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to give up his re-election bid, called for an open process to nominate Harris.
He said Democrats should have “an open process so that whoever our nominee is, including Kamala, has the strength of having a process that reflects the consensus position of the party.” “The debate in the Democratic Party is who can carry forward President Biden’s legacy and defeat Trump.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
