What does Joe Biden stepping back mean for the US Election?
Politics expert, Professor Murray Leith has explained why it might be a bad thing for Donald Trump.
Last updated 22nd Jul 2024
The US presidential election race has been rocked with the turmoil of Joe Biden stepping down from his re-election campaign against Donald Trump.
President Biden has backed his current vice president Kamala Harris to take the democratic party forward with Trump lauding up the opportunity to get some jibes into Harris early.
Joe Biden's decision to withdraw makes him the first sitting president to withdraw from the race since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
“We really are in uncharted waters. "
This unusual turn of events has shocked not only the public but experts too, like Professor Murray Leith at the University of the West of Scotland who is an expert on politics both here and across the pond in the US.
Turmoil after President Biden steps back
Professor Leith said: “Just this week, I was asked who the Democratic candidate for president would be, and I was emphatic that it would be Joe Biden.
“And indeed, it was Joe Biden that made the decision to withdraw - nobody else could make that for him - and he has stood back.
“This is an unprecedented decision in modern American politics. So, we really are in uncharted waters.
“We've never been in this situation before in the modern era, it isn't since 1968 that we've had an open convention. And it's not even sure if we'll have an open convention this time.
“Of course, with President Biden stepping back, he has endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris, but she isn't automatically going to become the next candidate as the rules are a little bit opaque on this.
“Then there is also the issue of finance - all the money that President Biden has raised can't just be thrown around willy nilly, there are quite specific rules about who can go to now there are ways that it can go to a presidential candidate such as Kamala Harris, but if it's another presidential candidate, it becomes much more challenging and difficult.”
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How will Donald Trump deal with new competition?
The worry for the democrats is now that Donald Trump may capitalise on the uncertainty over who his opposition will be in the presidential race.
However, it could also be a bad thing for the ex-president, as Professor Leith explains: “How Donald Trump will perceive this sudden change is going to be very interesting indeed.
“There is no doubt that Biden had worried him in some concerns. He'd already lost a Biden, he didn't like losing, Biden had a lot of money. Biden had quite a successful record. But of course, those weren't the things people were talking about.
“People really focused on Biden's age, albeit that he's only three and a half years older than Donald Trump.
“People were very focused on Biden's health too, where again, Donald Trump has had issues. So, with Biden stepping back, will this mean that Trump will be faced with similar questions about his age and his issues? Or will he be able to point to the Democratic Party and say, they're in turmoil, they don’t even know who the candidate is going to be? They don't know what they want.”
“It could be good for Donald Trump's campaign, or it could be bad. Many people argued that he was looking forward to arguing with Biden, so this could be a bit of a problem for Donald he now faces some very difficult and unknown challenges.”
Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate against Trump in June was the catalyst for him stepping back, and Trump had rocketed ahead on the polls since then.
While there is not yet a clear candidate for the democrats, Americans will head to the polls to elect their next president on the 5th of November.
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