Republican lawmakers react to Biden’s decision to withdraw from presidential race

President Bidens unprecedented announcement on sunday His withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race prompted reactions from both sides.

Here’s how Republican senators, members of Congress and leading party figures are reacting to the president’s decision to withdraw from the race just weeks before the Democratic National Convention and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former President Donald Trump

In a post on his social media platform, former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, slammed Biden.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to be President, and is certainly not fit to serve – and never has been!” Trump wrote. “He only got to the position of President through lies, fake news, and by never leaving his basement.”

Trump added that “we will suffer tremendously under his presidency,” but that Republicans “will repair the damage.”

In a phone call with CNN minutes after Biden announced his departure from the 2024 race, former Trump said, “He’s going to go down as by far the worst president in the history of our country.”

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana

House Speaker Johnson said Biden’s announcement was “an unprecedented moment in American history” and claimed the president’s decision invalidated the votes of millions of Americans who had chosen Biden as the Democratic nominee.

“The outlook for the party is no better now that Vice President Kamala Harris shares responsibility for the Biden administration’s disastrous policy failures,” Johnson said in a statement, calling on Biden to resign immediately.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president,” Johnson wrote, adding: “November 5 cannot come soon enough.”

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise claimed that Democratic Party leaders had “absolutely no respect for their own constituents.”

“After lecturing others about democracy, they took Joe Biden off the ballot and threw the primaries of 14 million of their own voters in the trash,” Scalise said in a statement.

“For years, Democrats and their partners in the media have smeared as conspiracy theorists Americans who questioned the president’s fitness based on what they saw with their own eyes,” Scalise wrote. “Every single one of these people — especially Vice President Harris — who participated in this cover-up must answer for their involvement.”

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York

Rep. Stefanik, the top Republican woman in the House of Representatives, also argued that Biden’s announcement shows he is not fit to serve as president at this time.

“If Joe Biden is unable to run for re-election, he is incapable and unfit to serve as President of the United States,” Stefanik said in a statement, urging Biden to “resign immediately.”

“Every elected Democrat in America owns Joe Biden’s failed and reckless record of creating the border crisis, Bidenflation, and chaos and weakness around the world,” she wrote. “President Trump will win this November to save America.”

Senator Steve Daines of Montana

Senator Daines has formally called on Biden to resign, saying the president is “no longer able to serve as president.”

“Being president is the toughest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence in Joe Biden’s ability to effectively carry out his duties as commander in chief,” Daines said in a statement. “It is out of concern for our country’s national security that I am formally calling on President Biden to resign.”

“It is also notable that none of the Democratic senators who served with Vice President Harris have called on her to replace President Biden,” added Daines, who said he had doubts about Harris’ ability to serve as president.

NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson

Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement: “This is a scandal of historic proportions — our president is incompetent, Democrats knew it, and they lied to the American people to cover it up. Voters will not forgive or forget this ultimate betrayal of their trust.”

“The day of reckoning will come in November, when Americans will mete out the ultimate punishment for Democrats: Donald Trump in the White House and an expanded Republican majority in the House,” Hudson wrote, adding: “If the president is not mentally fit to campaign, he is not mentally fit to have the nuclear codes. Every Democrat in the House must now answer: Is the president fit to serve out the remainder of his term?”