Political shockwaves were sent through the United States on the afternoon of Sunday, July 21st when the incumbent President Joe Biden made the historically unprecedented announcement that he would be suspending his campaign for re-election to the White House just three and a half months before the upcoming November general election was set to take place. Biden has endured intense political scrutiny from fellow Democratic lawmakers and media pundits alike after his disastrous debate debacle on June 27th. Never before has a presidential debate been held so early in the cycle; the affair was hosted by CNN, and likely occurred early for good reason. Biden appeared incompetent and incoherent on the stage at times and struggled to coherently answer questions. Following the display, many Democrats ramped up their calls for Biden to step aside and suspend his campaign. Biden was initially adamant about remaining in the race but succumbed to pressure in late July. The president quickly endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor. Several prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Phil Murphy endorsed Harris. Harris has allegedly already secured the support of over half the delegates required to clinch the nomination.
Harris has polled slightly better against Trump than Biden, and the upcoming election still appears to be a very close contest. In one state, Virginia (where Trump was defeated by 10 points by Biden in 2020), Trump and Biden had been locked in a dead heat. Harris is now leading Trump by 5 points in the state. Nationally, most polls show a race that will likely be decided by only two or three points. While November is political lightyears away and politics can change overnight, the election will likely be decided by a razor-thin margin. Foreign nations have attempted to influence the contest; Breitbart reported that Chinese state media reported Democrats acted in “desperation” to remove Biden, but quickly deleted the report in a mysterious occurrence.
