The top two Democrats in Congress have announced they are getting behind former Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed President Biden in the November election.
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 amid mounting speculation over whether they would endorse Harris.
“Now that the process has played out from the grassroots bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” Schumer said.
Biden made the explosive announcement that he would not seek another term in the White House on Sunday afternoon as a growing chorus of Democrats voiced concerns about his mental and physical fitness for mounting another campaign and even serving another four-year term.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speak to reporters after the White House meeting
The 81-year-old leader instead endorsed Harris, who is more than 22 years Biden’s junior.
A flurry of Democrats quickly followed suit, including former President Bill Clinton and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 150 House Democrats have backed Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The move has spurred Republicans to accuse Democrats of staging a “coup” against Biden in an effort to coronate Harris because they were afraid the president would lose to former President Trump in November.
Left-wing lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital on Monday, however, insisted the primary was still open to whomever wanted to compete – though they were certain Harris would still win.
“You’re seeing Democrats coalesce around Vice President Harris. I have endorsed her. Ultimately, in order to have a primary, you have to have a challenger. No one is challenging her,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla. “And so, right now it is an open process, right? You’ve seen potential people come out who could run and they’re endorsing her. And so that is the open process that’s happening.”
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President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When asked if he would advise potential challengers to stay out, he said, “I’m not discouraging anything but these people, right, folks at a high level, governors, senators…they’re not saying they’re gonna throw their hat in the ring, they’re endorsing Vice President Harris because they also think she’s the best person for the job. So it’s tough to say ‘We want to process,’ when right now you don’t even have a challenger.”
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Enough delegates have now backed Harris for her to formally win the Democratic nomination at the party’s naming convention in August.
Earlier this month, a source familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital that Schumer and Jeffries pushed for the DNC to delay its process of formalizing Biden as the nominee.