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President Biden just announced in a letter that he will step aside as the Democratic nominee for reelection.
He said in part: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and for me to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
I am heartbroken in this moment. This has been the most progressive and productive president of my lifetime, and the loyalty and respect he has earned comes from a lifetime of public service and an administration with extraordinary accomplishments, particularly in a deeply divided era for our country.
As I said several days ago in the essay I published on this crisis, I trust the President. I trust his wisdom to know that this is the best path forward. If Joe Biden knows this is how we proceed, I trust him.
Here’s the critical excerpt from that essay that I need everyone to understand:
But here’s one thing I know for certain: this current political media landscape of ours, with all its slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, will not end with President Biden stepping aside.
There is an obvious double standard at play right now. It is painfully apparent that Donald Trump and the Republican Party are largely being given a pass by much of political media.
That is not to say that all—or perhaps, most—political reporters and outlets are working through a prism of obvious bias in favor of Trump, but there is certainly a pervasive absolution of journalistic duty that will continue to exist, no matter which names are on the Democratic ticket.
Vice President Harris, Gov. Newsom, Gov. Whitmer, Gov. Pritzker, Gov. Shapiro, Gov. Beshear, Sec. Buttigieg, it truly does not matter who forms the ticket that gets printed on ballots — all of them will be unfairly weighed by much of political media against a narcissistic sociopath leading a major party that has become a cult.
It could be anything. The propaganda we can expect is only limited by imagination.
As soon as the Republican Party settles on a narrative and pushes it, much of political media will pick up that ball and run with it, “just asking questions” and musing out loud and doing all they can to preserve access with the GOP and satisfy certain billionaire owners who are throwing their weight on the scales.
I don’t point this out to demoralize anyone. Quite the opposite. I point this out to prevent a predictable demoralization that will surely come for anyone, regardless of their take on this matter, who believes the cementing of their preferred ticket will ease the path forward.
We have to be prepared for pervasive discomfort, every single one of us. The next 15 weeks or so will come with unexpected obstacles and a deeply unfair double standard in much of political media and the frustrating prioritization of entertainment over substance, intrigue over clarity, ratings over republic, drama over democracy.
Whatever happens next, even if it may not be what we personally think is best, it is critical that we roll up our sleeves and stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the work against those who gleefully seek to undermine and destroy our democratic institutions.
I strongly believe President Biden is our best choice and that he and VP Harris will win, but if the President does eventually decide to step aside, I will trust his well-earned wisdom and I’m gonna get right back to work and fight like hell to save our country.
The math here is remarkably simple. If we stand together and put in the work, we will win. If we allow anger and angst to divide us, we will lose and democracy will lose and the consequences of that will reverberate far beyond our country.
All of us have a choice, and I trust that there are more than enough us, regardless of how we personally feel the ticket should look, to come together and choose a future that sends Trump and Project 2025 right into the trash bin of history where they belong.
The choice is between democracy and dictatorship.
No matter what happens next, let’s all make that choice.
I meant every word of that, and I certainly mean every word of it now.
We can win this, and we will win this. I have no doubt about that.
I promise you that anything other than a unified purpose in this moment will not be helpful. Whatever we may feel, however heartbroken or angry or frustrated, the fate of our nation relies on us standing shoulder to shoulder to defeat a fascist vision. That must be our purpose.
President Biden has endorsed Vice President Harris, and he’s absolutely right to do so.
Vice President Harris will be the Democratic nominee, she will defeat Trump and his fascist vision, and she will be a great president. I have every faith in her. I am not worried about whether or not she can win. I know she can win.
Time to unite behind her with that common purpose and go win this election.
I 100% support VP Harris. I am also livid that privileged white men pushed this narrative so hard, because they are not the ones that will suffer under a Trump presidency. I live in Texas and Project 2025 is already well underway. It’s hamstring my University’s ability to support marginalized students. We have no right to abortion. My nonbinary kid deserves to live in a country where they are not targeted and we are not targeted for loving and supporting them. The Pod Save America bros and the talk show bros are not at risk. Thousands of my students are. My kid is. I want to believe we can elect a fully qualified, brilliant woman of color but I’m terrified that the casual misogyny, racism, and xenophobia that has dominated our elections will hold sway.
Love this, Charlotte! I’m very sad that Biden was treated so badly but Harris will be a great president and she has my vote
I agree with what you'v'e written but I am also a very practical old white woman. Everyone should be prepared for the horrible vitriol that'll be thrown against Kamal Harris. Racism and misogyny are very, very real in the US, including among Democratic voters. House Speaker Johnson was on the talk shows earlier and talking about lawsuits against Democrats changing their ticket. It won't matter if those lawsuits are frivolous, they will cause more problems and who among us trust this Supreme Court. I sincerely hope I'm wrong. I also hope Democrats won't descend into chaos at the Democratic Convention, and that we'll be able to get our new ticket on the ballots in all states. The media will continue to criticize Democrats and continue to allow Trump to escape criticism. I will vote Blue, up and the down the ticket, but I think this was a mistake.
Register your friends, family, neighbors. Join, donate, phone. Find your local Democratic org and volunteer. We can do this... Vote blue.
We owe Joe this much..
Yes to everything you said. Biden has been a fantastic president. I'm sad that he's stepping down, but just like he's done everything else, he's done this the right way for the party and the country. Vice-President Kamala Harris was my first choice in the primaries, so I'm very excited to see her as our candidate for president. I'll do everything I can to support her.
I agree with every word Charlotte. Thank you for your voice. I am so saddened by the behavior and fear of the Democratic Party and the one-side-ism of the media, but it is done; President Biden has made the only principled choice left to him, so now we need to work doubly hard to get Kamala Harris elected. It is fascism or democracy.
Charlotte,
thanks for staying so solid through all the malarkey!
Charlotte, once again I turned to your blog seeking an insightful, humane take on today's developments. Once again, you did not disappoint. Thank you.
I’m sorry that it came to this, for Biden. I will fully support Harris as a candidate. I hope there won’t be further infighting within our party and that Harris, or the nominee, will be on ballots in every state. I hope that there won’t be legal challenges to the point that SCOTUS decides who will be president.
If you haven’t yet listened to AOC’s take on this, she’s well worth the listen.
Thank you Charlotte for your words, as always. I’ve been checking your twitter feed often and have finally subscribed here.
Amen amen amen!
I'm grateful you're in our corner!
Love this, a gazillion times.
I hear you, Charlotte! My husband and I were having angry rants about the President being so mistreated and the public wholly bullied and gaslighted by the power brokers & donor class with a huge assist by the MSM.
However, we tuned to Mary Trump (on her Substack and YouTube early today) who supported Biden to stay in the race, like me/us, -- also like me/us, now supports this strategy for November's election: Now that Biden has left the race -- A strategy!
President Biden can go full progressive and kick arse (full immunity you know), which allows him to implement great reforms before he leaves, and allows VP Harris to campaign full throttle, TN/Dem. Gov. Beshear as the VP candidate. In October of 2O24, Biden leaves office and VP Harris becomes an incumbent president *before* the November election.
Another item that was highly discussed, was specifically regarding Gov. Beshear as the VP candidate. Mary and her panel weren't talking red states. They were talking about a white guy with moderate leanings like Biden who will bring in moderate traditional white women who require (to be realists) a white male on the ticket.
Correction! I meant Gov. Beshear, *Kentucky*. 🥴
Adding this now, 6:15 pm MDT -
This was also discussed on Mary Trump's feed this morning:
People such M. Williamson (argh!) are already demanding an open convention. And if her fellow chaos agents go there, appear they won't focus and "hold the line" for Harris, the Dems may require a "break glass," moment. Biden *chooses* to resign, officially hands the presidency to Harris publicly at the White House, and Harris *immediately* becomes an incumbent, cornering these chaos agents such as Williamson.