From calls for resignation to grateful support, leaders weigh in on Biden announcement

Johnson said the Democratic party was not better off with Vice President Kamala Harris who has shared fault with the “disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration.”

Rep. Mike Turner (OH-10) released a statement echoing Speaker Johnson’s concern for Biden’s fitness for office: “While the Democratic Party wondered if Joe Biden could serve for another four years, I have publicly stated my concerns that he’s not up to the job for the next four days. Our national security demands a full-time president. Today’s announcement confirms what the American people would have done at the ballot box in November. President Biden’s cabinet must take immediate action and determine if he is capable to govern for the remainder of this year.”

Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. On X, she wrote “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”

Former President Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social saying his former opponent was “not fit to run.”

“All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t.” Trump said in the statement. “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!”

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, in a post on X, said: “I thank President Biden for his years of committed service to the country we love — as Senator, as Vice President, and as President.”

Montgomery County Democratic Party Chairman Mohamed Al-Hamdani said he was “heartbroken” to hear that Biden decided to end his campaign, but said Biden had huge accomplishments as president. He pointed to Biden getting an infrastructure bill passed where other administrations had failed, leading the economy out of the post-COVID malaise, confirming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and managing the post-Jan. 6 crisis.

“I think people forget that Trump is an insurrectionist who tried to overthrow the government. And that is what the president came into, so he had a lot of work to do, from Day 1,” Al-Hamdani said.

“His decision (to withdraw) just highlights his commitment to our party and our nation, and continues his legacy of putting country first,” Al-Hamdani said. “We are very proud as Democrats to have had him as our president, and will continue to have him as our president for the next few months. We look forward to the nomination process and having a new candidate represent our party nationally. For us, it has always been about defeating Donald Trump and what he stands for. The decision by the president today only highlights that for all of us.”

Rep. Phil Plummer, Chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, also issued a statement: “It is certainly not shocking news that President Biden is getting out of the race. During the debate, President Biden was exposed as being mentally incompetent and unfit for duty. The voting public was well aware of the fact that he was not mentally capable of running our country, however his handlers and bureaucrats constantly lied and covered for him. He has let criminals and known terrorists into our country putting Americans at risk due to his failed border policies. His failed policies have really hurt the middle class families and people continue to struggle to make ends meet. The American people deserve better.”

On X, Gov. Mike DeWine wished President Biden and the First Lady “all the best.”

Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman thanked President Biden in a statement, saying his decision “marks a pivotal moment in our country.”

“As we reflect on his tenure, let us remember his successes despite the challenges he faced,” she wrote. “Let us continue his wishes for unity, progress and the betterment of all in our country.”

“Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race, while remaining president, is the reason the American people are so distrustful of this administration,” the Ohio Republican Party said in a X post.

The party added if Joe Biden is not fit to be president in January, he is not fit to be president today.

“Donald Trump and JD Vance will win this November and they will save this country,” the party said. “They will reverse Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s historic failures on addressing rampant inflation and the rising cost of living, the immigration crisis and out-of-control crime.”

The Ohio Republican Party added they cannot do that until January, and Americans deserve better than to have an incapable commander-in-chief for the next six months.

“Joe Biden should resign his presidency immediately,” the party said.

Rep. Greg Landsman (OH-1), in a statement, said “The President is putting the country and our democracy first, as he has done for decades. His decision is truly a patriotic one. This is quintessential Joe Biden.”

Rep. Landsman’s opponent, Orlando Sonza, also released a statement: “Joe Biden’s policies, which Greg Landsman has supported every step of the way, have failed Ohio families and the country. If Joe Biden is unfit to run for office, he’s unfit to serve as Commander-in-chief.”

“President Biden is a great public servant who knows better than anyone what it takes to defeat Donald Trump,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a Twitter post. “His remarkable work to lower prescription drug costs, fix the damn roads, bring supply chains home, address climate change, and ensure America’s global leadership over decades will go down in history.”

She added her job in this election “will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump, a convicted felon whose agenda of raising families’ costs, banning abortion nationwide, and abusing the power of the White House to settle his own scores is completely wrong for Michigan.”

“Remarkable leadership shown by Joe Biden. Now it falls to the DNC to show equal leadership by having an open process to determine the best candidate(s) to take on Trump - Vance in November,” Andrew Yang, the founder of the political party ‘Forward Party in 2021, said. “The goal should be simple - to win.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise criticized the decision on X, saying “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 14 million of their own voters.”

“President Joe Biden has made the decision he believes is in the best interest of our nation,” the Democratic mayor of Cincinnati Aftab Pureval said. “I have no doubt this decision was difficult, but consistent with his entire career, President Biden put his country before himself.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, on X, thanked Biden for his service and called him “the most pro-working class president in modern American history.”