J.D. Vance and Mike Johnson were among a number of Republicans who called on Joe Biden to resign from the presidency Sunday, asserting bluntly that if the president is unfit to campaign, he’s unfit for office.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President,” said the House speaker. “He must resign the office immediately.”
Biden, 81, dropped out of the presidential race just before 2 p.m. Sunday in a shock decision that has thrown the Democratic Party into chaos, just 106 nights from Election Day.
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Just hours prior to Biden’s Sunday announcement, Vance posted to X that Biden should resign should he ever bow out of the presidential race.
“If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify remaining President?” said Vance. “Not running for reelection would be a clear admission that President Trump was right all along about Biden not being mentally fit enough to serve as Commander-in-Chief. There is no middle ground.”
Biden endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, in a follow-up statement 23 minutes after he announced he’d suspended his campaign. Johnson’s statement quickly followed. In it, he said Harris has been a “gleeful accomplice” to Biden and his administration. The House speaker also claimed the VP had known about Biden’s “incapacity to serve” as long as anyone.
“The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration,” Johnson said. “As second in command and a completely inept border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice—not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security, and prosperity, but also in the largest political coverup in U.S. history. She has known for as long as anyone of his incapacity to serve.”
Harris has been widely regarded as the favorite to top the Democrats’ ticket in November. It’s unclear, however, how the party will settle on who will opposed Donald Trump in November. The DNC is slated to begin in Chicago on Aug. 19, where the party’s eventual nominee will be confirmed.
