The top two Democrats in Congress have announced their support for former Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Biden in the November election.
Amid growing speculation about whether they would endorse Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) held a press conference at Senate Democrats’ campaign headquarters on Tuesday.
“Now that the process has been underway from the grassroots down, we are here today to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris,” Schumer said.
Biden’s shock announcement on Sunday afternoon that he would not seek another term in the White House raised concerns among Democrats about his mental and physical health in terms of a reelection campaign and serving another four years in office.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speak to reporters after meeting at the White House.
The 81-year-old leader instead endorsed Harris, who is more than 22 years Biden’s junior.
Many Democrats quickly followed suit, including former President Bill Clinton and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 150 House Democrats had endorsed Harris.
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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on June 28, 2024. (Bizayev Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The move prompted Republicans to accuse Democrats of plotting a “coup” against Biden to ensure Harris’ victory, fearing that Biden would lose to former President Trump in the November presidential election.
But left-leaning lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday maintained that while they believed Harris was certain to win, the primary was still open to anyone who wanted to run.
“You see Democrats rallying behind VP Harris. I support VP Harris. At the end of the day, to have a primary, you need a challenger. Nobody is challenging VP Harris,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said. “So it’s an open process right now, right? People who could potentially run have come out and are supporting VP Harris. It’s an open process.”
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President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beyer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Asked whether he would advise potential challengers not to run, he said, “I’m not trying to block anything, but high-ranking officials like the governor and senators are not running and they support Vice President Harris because they think she’s the best person to run. So it’s hard to say, ‘I want to move forward,’ when there isn’t even a challenger right now.”
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Enough delegates supported Harris to formally win the Democratic nomination at the party’s naming convention in August.
Earlier this month, a source familiar with the discussions told Fox News Digital that Schumer and Jeffries had lobbied the Democratic National Committee to delay the process of formally endorsing Biden as the nominee.
