Biden drops out of presidential race; Democrats, Republicans weigh in

MILWAUKEE - President Joe Biden announced on Sunday, July 21, he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement.

Democrats are applauding the president, saying his decision revealed a sense of character not often seen in politics. Republicans, fresh off their convention in Milwaukee, say the candidate will change, but the party platform will not.

Democrats weigh in

Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki and Democratic Congressman Mark Pocan both called Biden’s announcement "selfless."

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"We hear from people all the time that politicians don't listen," Zepecki said. "Joe Biden heard the American people saying that they wanted a different choice, that they thought he was too old for the job."

Pocan, who had called on the president to "pass the torch," endorsed Harris after she called him on Sunday afternoon.

"She, you know, said that she's ready to do this race, and I know she is," he said. "You have fresh blood, so to speak, in the race, and I think this is something that's gonna really make people understand that there is a distinct difference."

Republican response

Former Gov. Scott Walker said the Republican Party shouldn’t take anything for granted.

"They're gonna do whatever they can to try and redo that perception out there, but the reality is the policies are what have voters upset, not just the age factor," Walker said.

After Republicans touted unity all week at the Republican National Convention, he said Democrats are ignoring the will of the people.

"The voters had their chance in the Democratic primary and caucus season," he said. "And now, behind closed doors, they're pushing him out the door and putting someone else in."

As the race for the White House heats up, Harris is set to travel to Milwaukee for a campaign event on Tuesday, July 23. A news release from the Office of the Vice President said the upcoming visit will be Harris' fifth to Wisconsin in 2024.

Pocan said he is not sure if Harris is still planning to visit after the announcement.

FOX6 News also reached out to the Biden-Harris campaign, who did not respond about the upcoming visit.

Historical context

Biden is not the first president to be pressured out of running for reelection. But he is the first to step aside after winning a majority of his party's delegates.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

The most similar, and recent case, may have been in March 1968, when then-President Lyndon B. Johnson made a famous speech, withdrawing from his race amid growing unpopularity brought on by the Vietnam War.

In that case, democratic primaries had already started, but Johnson was underperforming. And it seemed to his party that Johnson would not be a strong candidate.

"Basically, well, he wasn’t losing primaries at that point, he was not performing as well as you’d expect for someone who was going to, as the sitting president, win the party’s nomination and the election, so he chose to bow out," University of Dayton Associate Professor Christopher Devine said.

The person who ended up winning the Democratic nomination that year was Hubert Humphrey, Johnson’s vice president. He, like Harris, had not run in a single primary.

Humphrey went on to lose to former President Richard Nixon.

As for how the history books will remember this moment, that will likely depend on the outcome in November.