Donald Trump’s vicious attack on Joe Biden and his legacy led the Republican party’s reaction to the president’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve – and never was!” Trump, the Republican nominee, said in a post to Truth Social, repeating his favored insult for the man who beat him in the 2020 election, and rehashing a familiar litany of unsubstantiated grievances.
“He only attained the position of president by lies, fake news, and not leaving his basement. All those around him, including his doctor and the media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being president, and he wasn’t.
“And now look what he’s done to our country, with millions of people coming across our border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists. We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.”
JD Vance, Trump’s newly installed running mate, called Biden “the worst president of my lifetime” in a tweet, and attempted to link vice-president Kamala Harris to his “scam policies”.
“Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way. She owns all of these failures, and she lied for nearly four years about Biden’s mental capacity – saddling the nation with a president who can’t do the job,” he said.
“President Trump and I are ready to save America, whoever’s at the top of the Democrat ticket. Bring it on.”
A statement from the Republican National Committee chair, Michael Whatley, and co-chair Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, claimed the Democratic party was in “decline and disarray”.
“As Democrats fall apart, President Trump is uniting the American people behind his winning agenda,” they said.
Mike Johnson, the House speaker and a Trump loyalist, issued a statement calling on Biden to also resign the presidency, as well as suspending his candidacy for re-election.
“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,” Johnson said.
He also attempted to paint Biden’s decision to stand aside as a coup staged by the Democratic party, a position that became a popular talking point for Republicans and the Trump campaign in recent days.
“We must be clear about what just happened. The Democrat party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election,” Johnson said.
“Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite.
“The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice-President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden administration.”
A slew of other senior Republicans fell in line Sunday to add their condemnation.
Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, called out “Washington Democrats” in a statement steering largely clear of direct criticism of Biden.
“The Democratic party has been busy in recent weeks trying to upend the expressed will of the American people in primary elections across the country,” he said.
“Washington Democrats have not proven themselves any more capable than the president of delivering the secure borders, safe streets, and stable prices that working families deserve. We cannot afford four more years of failure.”
Richard Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), called Biden’s withdrawal “a scandal of historic proportions” in a statement posted to X.
He also questioned if Biden was capable of finishing out his term.
“If the president is mentally unfit to campaign, he is mentally unfit to have the nuclear codes,” he said. “Judgment day is coming in November.”
Attacking Democrats for “removing” their leader was a familiar theme among other leading Republicans, even though Biden said the decision and its timing were his alone.
“Democrat party bosses just proved that they have absolutely no respect for their own voters. After lecturing others about democracy, they just forced Joe Biden off the ticket, trashing the primary choice of 14m of their own voters,” House majority leader Steve Scalise said in a tweet.
Meanwhile Elise Stefanik, chair of the Republican House conference, aired a conspiracy theory, also on X.
“Back-room donors, Democrat elites, and their stenographers in the mainstream media conspired in this direct attack on democracy by successfully forcing out the candidate who secured the necessary votes to serve as the general election candidate,” she said.
Missouri senator Josh Hawley, a leading Biden critic in the upper chamber, accused Democrats of “rigging their own elections”.
“Resign your office. If you can’t run a mere political campaign, you can’t be president,” Hawley said.
Not all Republicans were so quick to condemn the news of Biden dropping out. Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio and a frequent critic of Trump, had kinder words for the president in his own statement.
“I have known President Biden since 1995, when I entered the US Senate and served with him on the Senate judiciary committee,” he said.
“Fran and I wish President Biden and the first lady all the best as he serves out the remainder of his term and in the years ahead.”
