A list of former President Obama’s allies and former advisers helped lead the charge in calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race before he officially ended his campaign on Sunday afternoon.

Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 race after weeks of increasing pressure from traditional Democrat allies to bow out after his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month, which put concerns surrounding his mental acuity and 81 years of age under increasing scrutiny. 

‘My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,’ Biden posted on X after he dropped out of the race on Sunday afternoon.

‘My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,’ he said in a separate social media post.

Among some of the most noteworthy voices calling on Biden to bow out were allies of Obama’s, including his former adviser, David Axelrod, who said this month that Biden is ‘not winning this race.’ Biden served as Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017. 

‘There are certain immutable facts of life,’ Axelrod said in an interview with CNN while discussing Biden’s age and leadership. ‘Those were painfully obvious on that debate stage. The president just … hasn’t come to grips with it. He’s not winning this race.’

Axelrod formerly served as Obama’s chief campaign strategist, and he said Biden is used to fighting ‘his way back from political defeats and against the odds.’

‘So, his psyche is that he can beat anybody and any long odds,’ he said this month. ‘What he can’t beat is Father Time.’ 

‘And that’s really the concern here. It’s not about his record,’ Axelrod continued.

Axelrod was soon followed by actor George Clooney calling on Biden to drop out of the race in a bombshell op-ed that was published just weeks after the Hollywood star co-hosted Biden, alongside Obama, for a ritzy campaign event in Los Angeles. Clooney has long had a personal friendship with Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, including vacationing with the first couple in previous years.

‘It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010,’ Clooney wrote in a New York Times op-ed. ‘He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.’

Another ally in Obama’s orbit, Jon Favreau, who served as former director of speech writing for Obama, also called on Biden to drop out of the race this month, saying he attended the fundraiser in L.A. with Clooney and Obama and saw Biden’s state of mental acuity.

‘It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser. I was there. Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden, or at least they didn’t say that,’ Jon Favreau said during an appearance on CNN this month. 

‘I remember my wife, Emily, turned to me after the fundraiser and said, ‘What are we going to do?’ And I said, ‘Well, there is a debate in a week. Either he’ll do well in the debate, and we’ll think he was just tired because he flew all the way back from Europe, and that’ll be that, or he’ll be like this at the debate and then the whole country will be talking about it. So, here we are.’

Favreau, alongside former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vietor – known collectively as the ‘Obama Bros’ when they worked in the White House – dedicated the majority of a podcast episode of ‘Pod Save America’ this month to trashing Biden. 

‘I thought it was bad, and at times very hard to watch,’ Vietor said, referring to Biden’s sit-down interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos after Biden’s debate performance. 

Vietor said it ‘seems like a clear-cut choice that we’d have a better chance with someone else,’ while Lovett added that Biden wasn’t ‘delivering the message effectively.’

Up until Sunday afternoon, Biden and his campaign remained adamant that the president would not bow out of the race. 

Obama has remained relatively silent while Biden weighed his options for the election, coming to Biden’s defense after his recent debate performance but not responding to media reports that he was working behind the scenes to promote Biden’s exit.

‘Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November,’ he posted on X at the time. 

As media reports circulated that Obama was working ‘behind the scenes’ to oust Biden from the race, the 44th president remained mum, not denying the reports. Politico reported that Clooney even gave Obama a ‘heads-up’ that his op-ed calling on Biden to bow out of the race was set to publish, with Obama reportedly not objecting to the opinion piece.

Obama released a statement on Sunday commending Biden for his work in the Oval Office, but he did not tip his hand as to who he believes should pick up the mantle now that the president is no longer running for re-election. Biden, as well as the Clintons and other powerful Democrats, announced their endorsement of Vice President Harris shortly after Biden’s announcement.

‘We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond,’ Obama wrote on Sunday in a lengthy statement. 

‘Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order,’ Obama added. 

Amid the speculation that Biden would drop out, the Associated Press reported that Obama, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were reportedly working in the background to encourage Biden to drop out due to concerns he could not defeat Trump. 

Pelosi notably suggested this month that Biden’s previously adamant resolve to remain in the race was not his final decision.

‘It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,’ she said this month on MSNBC. ‘We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.’

Obama had joined Biden for a handful of campaign events since last year, but long before joining Biden on the campaign trail – or even endorsing his former running mate – Obama cautioned Biden against seeking the White House, citing fears that the campaign could ‘damage his legacy,’ according to a 2019 New York Times report.

‘You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,’ Obama reportedly told Biden in 2019.

‘Win or lose, they needed to make sure Mr. Biden did not ‘embarrass himself’ or ‘damage his legacy’ during the campaign,’ the New York Times reported, citing two people with knowledge of the conversation.

Biden had made a series of gaffes before becoming Obama’s running mate in 2008, including in 2007 when Biden was about to declare his own run for the White House. On the eve of his announcement, Biden described Obama to a reporter as ‘the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.’

Obama had remained coy about who he would endorse in the 2020 election, saying he would not back anyone during the primary. As Democrat contenders such as Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the primary race and cleared a path for Biden, Obama endorsed his former veep in August 2020.

As Democrats suss out who they will officially nominate for the 2024 election, some in the president’s orbit have pinned blame on his failed 2024 race on donors and ‘electeds.’

‘Now that the donors and electeds have pushed out the only candidate who has ever beaten Trump, it’s time to end the political fantasy games and unite behind the only veteran of a national campaign — our outstanding @vp @KamalaHarris!! Let’s get real and win in November!,’ former White House chief of staff Ron Klain posted on X. 

After Biden’s announcement, Republicans have demanded the president resign from office, arguing that if he is unable to run for another term, he’s unable to fulfill his duties as president for the rest of his term.

‘If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement on Sunday.

‘If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he’s certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes,’ House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., added. ‘Biden must step down from office immediately.’

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, also called on Biden to resign hours before he officially announced he was dropping out.

‘If Joe Biden ends his reelection campaign, how can he justify remaining President? 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,’ Vance tweeted Sunday morning.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

Former President Barack Obama released a statement Sunday afternoon, praising President Biden after he dropped out of the 2024 race.

Obama referred to Biden as a ‘dear friend and partner’ as well as a ‘patriot of the highest order.’

‘Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts,’ Obama said.

The former president also cited Biden’s track record in the 3½ years he has served as commander-in-chief, saying ‘he helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits.’

Obama also referenced former President Donald Trump in his statement, referring to the 45th president’s administration as ‘four years of chaos, falsehood, and division.’
 
While Obama referred to President Biden’s track record as ‘outstanding,’ he said ‘Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election.’

Obama stressed that ‘everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.’

‘I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America.’

Obama shared, ‘I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August.’

The Democratic National Convention will happen in Chicago beginning August 19 through August 22.
 
The former president finished his statement with a note of thanks to both President Biden and Jill Biden.

Days before President Biden announced his exit from the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, Fox News Digital spoke to delegates and attendees in Milwaukee at the Republican National Convention last week about who they think would take his place. 

Mike Stieben, a delegate from Kansas, predicted the Democrats would put forward Vice President Harris if Biden dropped out, but he added that it doesn’t matter at all because I think she’s a very weak candidate.’

Stieben added that it would be ‘really problematic for them’ if Democrats decided to push Harris to the side in favor of an alternate candidate.

Patti O’Brien, a delegate at the convention, said she didn’t believe Biden would actually drop out because no quality candidate was ‘waiting in the wings’ to take his place.

But probably it should go to Kamala,’ she told Fox News Digital.

‘I think [former President] Trump’s going to mop the floor with anybody they put up,’ one attendee said, adding that it seemed Biden was ‘on the way out the door.’

One attendee said it would be ‘totally fine’ if Harris became the nominee or even California Gov. Gavin Newsom or former first lady Michelle Obama: ‘The people, I think, are waking up to know that that’s just not the party of the people anymore. So, it doesn’t matter.’

‘I think he understands, and his compatriots understand, he needs to drop out. So, I think he will. I have no idea who they’re going to put up, you know, to replace him. I would hope it wouldn’t be Kamala, but I have no idea,’ another attendee said. 

Another attendee told Fox News Digital that she has ‘mixed thoughts’ on who would replace Biden, given that Harris is believed to be the only candidate who can immediately access funds in the Biden war chest: ‘It’s a really unusual situation.’

Biden announced Sunday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for the president to drop out after a disastrous debate performance against Trump last month.

The unprecedented announcement also came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers publicly called for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly engaged in efforts to convince the president, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.

‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,’ Biden, who endorsed Harris, wrote in a public letter. ‘While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.’

Biden said he will formally address the nation about his decision this week.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Democrats in the House’s far-left ‘Squad’ are lining up behind Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Biden after he made the bombshell announcement that he is dropping out of the 2024 White House race.

The group of young progressives who made a name for themselves by rebelling against traditional Democratic Party leaders are quickly falling in line behind 81-year-old Biden’s chosen successor.

‘This was the president’s decision to make and I’m grateful for his years of service to our country. Thrilled to support [Harris] as our Democratic nominee and remain committed to working alongside her to defeat Donald Trump in November,’ Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wrote on X.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who recently lost his re-election bid to a more moderate primary challenger, said on X, ‘Now that President Biden has suspended his campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is the most qualified and best choice to lead us forward.’

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., facing a similarly tough re-election bid, said in a statement, ‘When we say trust Black women, we mean it. Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party and it is past time for us to lead our country forward. Kamala Harris is more than ready to lead at this moment.’

Two notable figures who have been silent on the matter as of late afternoon on Sunday are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

Tlaib is one of the Biden administration’s harshest critics in terms of its handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Ocasio-Cortez, who has backed Biden amid mounting pressure from fellow Democrats for him to drop out, hosted a live feed on Instagram just after former President Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last week. 

She said on video that high-dollar Democratic donors were to blame for pressuring Biden, and that those same people did not want Harris to run either.

‘I’m here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and a huge amount of these elites and a huge amount of these folks in these rooms that I see that are pushing for President Biden to not be the nominee also are not interested in seeing Vice President being the nominee,’ she said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez to ask if she would be endorsing Harris.

Biden has been under mounting pressure to drop out of the 2024 presidential race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against Trump last month. 

His weak showing spurred concerns over whether he had the mental and physical stability to run a campaign and serve another four-year term. 

Biden bowed to that pressure on Sunday, writing in a public letter, ‘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 to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.’

Former President Donald Trump said the next presidential debate should be moderated by Fox News, not ‘on Fake News ABC,’ after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race. 

‘My debate with Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the history of the United States, was slated to be broadcast on Fake News ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, sometime in September. Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC. Thank you!,’ Trump posted to Truth Social late Sunday afternoon. 

Trump’s statement comes after Biden officially dropped out of the 2024 presidential race following weeks of mounting pressure from Democratic allies that he should bow out and pass the mantle to someone better suited to defeat Trump come November. The calls for him to drop out stem from concerns over his mental fitness and 81 years of age, which came under heightened scrutiny after his disastrous debate performance last month. 

‘It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,’ Biden said in his letter posted to X Sunday afternoon. 

The president endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president shortly following his announcement. Harris is the most likely candidate to run in Biden’s place, but still needs to become the official nominee at the Democratic National Convention next month. 

‘My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,’ Biden said. 

CNN moderated the first presidential debate in June, with ABC News slated to host the second debate in September. Due to Biden now out of the race, Trump is calling for the debate schedule to be modified and have Fox News host the debate. It is unclear who Trump will debate until the DNC certifies its nominee. 

Trump and his campaign previously accepted two Fox News debates this election cycle, including a presidential debate for Oct. 2, and a vice presidential debate for a date that had not yet been determined. 

Trump said shortly following Biden’s announcement that ‘Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation.’

‘He has done everything possible to destroy our Country, from our Southern Border, to Energy Dominance, National Security, International Standing, and so much more. He was annihilated in an Earth Shattering Debate, and now the Corrupt and Radical Democrats are throwing him overboard. He was not fit to serve from the very beginning, but the people around him lied to America about his Complete and Total Mental, Physical, and Cognitive Demise. Whoever the Left puts up now will just be more of the same. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ Trump posted. 

The 45th president added in a phone call with CNN that Harris would be an easier candidate to defeat than Biden. 

Trump posted in a follow-up Truth Social post Sunday evening that his campaign was ‘forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden’ before he quit the race. 

‘Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the Fake News Media, knew he was not capable of running for, or being, President? Just askin’?’ Trump wrote. 

The ABC News debate is scheduled for Sept. 10. 

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the contest for the White House is a ‘two-man race’ and that only he can beat Donald Trump after President Biden’s shocking withdrawal from a second-term bid.

Speaking Sunday at a hastily called press conference from his family’s storied compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Kennedy praised Biden while simultaneously blaming Democratic Party leaders for ‘hiding’ his mental decline.

‘I want to begin by commending President Biden for a career in public service: a long, long career and representing and serving our country and for his handling of the many difficulties and challenges, personal challenges and tragedies that he suffered during his life with so much admirable conduct and the empathy that he derives from those experiences,’ Kennedy said.

Kennedy, who left the party his family once ruled after it blocked his bid to challenge Biden in primaries, said the Democratic National Committee created a mess by covering for Biden.

‘The reaction of the DNC to that obvious condition was to hide it from the American public and to use their power over the Democratic Party nomination process to make sure that nobody could compete with President Biden in a way that would expose his deficiencies,’ Kennedy argued.

Kennedy continued his campaign as an independent, and he has reached double-digits in some polls on a platform that decries ‘corporate capture,’ the affordability crisis, and ‘forever wars,’ according to his campaign website.

Kennedy also called out former President Trump as well as Vice President Harris, who appears poised to head the Democrat ticket. 

‘President Trump has a connection to the American people, a populist connection,’ said Kennedy. ‘But in many ways, it’s the same fraudulent connection that we saw with the DNC over the past year, concealing a real purpose of their objective, which was to give us a president that … represents corporate interests rather than the interests of the American public.’

‘If the Democrats do what I suspect they’re going to do, which is to anoint Kamala Harris, a vice president who is monumentally unpopular within her own party … they’re doing it because it’s the easiest way to hold on to the money,’ Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he would consider accepting the Democrat nomination if were it offered to him.

‘I would certainly listen to the party elders if they came to me, I would discuss something with them,’ said Kennedy. ‘I’m the only presidential candidate who can beat Donald Trump, and if I were them, I would do that, and I would certainly listen to their proposals.’

‘I wouldn’t be the front-runner, because by the time I left the Democratic Party, it was really clear that, and this is the only reason I left that day, that the rules have been rigged to prevent me from winning,’ Kennedy said. ‘So, I would be in the same position as [presidential candidates] Dean Phillips today or Marianne Williamson, which is, you know, sidelined.’

Kennedy added, ‘I am very content running where I am, and I believe I can win this election. I believe at this point it’s a two-man race or two-person race. Let me put it that way. And, you know, and that I’m in the best position to win.’

A Fox News Poll from July showed Kennedy receiving 10% of the general electoral vote in a three-way race with Trump and Biden.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify Monday before the House Oversight Committee in a hearing on the circumstances surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Trump – amid intense criticism of her leadership and calls for her to step down.

The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Cheatle to appear last week as part of an open investigation into the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was shot in the ear, while one attendee was killed and two others injured. 

In a statement, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, confirmed her attendance on Friday.

‘The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees. We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure it never happens again. That includes cooperation with Congress, the FBI and other relevant investigations.’

In the wake of the shooting, Republicans and some Democrats immediately raised questions about the performance of the agency, including about how a gunman was able to get so close to the former president and fire multiple shots. In his letter to Cheatle, Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., had accused the Secret Service of a lack of transparency in issuing the subpoena.

‘Americans demand answers from Director Kimberly Cheatle about the Secret Service’s historic security failures that led to the attempted assassination of President Trump, murder of an innocent victim, and harm to others in the crowd. We look forward to Director Cheatle’s testimony on Monday, July 22 to deliver the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve,’ Comer said in response to Cheatle confirming she would testify.

In addition to the Oversight Committee hearing, the House Homeland Security committee has called for a hearing and has subpoenaed documents from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In the Senate, both Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., and ranking member Rand Paul, R-Ky., have launched an investigation. The DHS Office of Inspector General is also reviewing the Secret Service’s handling of the rally

In a preview of the pressure Cheatle may face, she was confronted by multiple Republican senators at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday.

‘This was an assassination attempt, you owe the people answers, you owe President Trump answers,’ Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said.

Cheatle, meanwhile, has called the shooting ‘unacceptable’ and ‘something that shouldn’t happen again.’

‘The buck stops with me,’ she told ABC News last week. ‘I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary.’

However, in response to the intense criticism from lawmakers, the Secret Service says she does not intend to resign.

‘Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down,’ Guglielmi said. ‘She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.’