ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers says Biden’s decision to drop out the race surprised the White House staff and his campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware.
“It was just a stunning turn of events that has sent Democrats scrambling,” Travers said. “The race for the White House was just a couple of weeks before the convention and just over three months until election day. The president still has Covid. He was off the campaign trail since last Wednesday when he tested positive. He is at his beach house in Delaware, and we’re told that he started to come to this decision on Saturday.
“He has been huddling in meetings his closest advisors and some family, and yesterday he started to make phone calls, including multiple conversations with his vice president Kamala Harris. At 1:45, he met with just his most senior staff to tell them about this decision and announcement and a minute later released that letter out there on social media.
“A couple minutes after that though, he also posted a second message saying he offered his full support and endorsement for his vice president to be the nominee of the party this year. And now you’re starting to see Democrats rallying around Kamala Harris to be their party nominee.”
Jeff Nall is a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Like so many others, he was surprised by Biden’s decision.
He said, “Many state-level groups were releasing statements reconfirming their endorsement for President Biden yesterday morning, and I was reposting one of those when I actually saw the letter that he wrote.”
Nall participated in a Zoom call for Florida delegates last night. “We continued to learn more, and we’ll definitely keep you in the loop. I think everybody knows this is pretty fluid. I’ve got another call on Wednesday, but I see everyone coming around to support Vice President Harris.”