President Joe Biden on Sunday announced he will not seek to be reelected as president in 2024, and he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee.
But the 81-year-old’s decision — with just over 100 days until the election — has given rise to many more questions about what comes next for the rest of his presidency and for the presidential race.
Is Biden still the president?
Yes. Biden’s announcement exclusively pertained to his role as the Democratic candidate in November’s presidential election. It has no bearing on his current role or term as president, which he said he intends to serve out in its entirety. Biden will remain president until his successor is sworn in on January 20, 2025.
Biden endorsed Harris. Does that make her the Democratic nominee?
No. Following his announcement, Biden endorsed Harris, his vice president, to be the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris said in a statement that she was “honored” to receive Biden’s endorsement and intends to “earn and win” the nomination for president in her first public statement since Biden’s stunning announcement.
But none of this automatically makes her the nominee.
How will the Democratic nominee be chosen and who will it be?
CNN’s Zachary Wolf and Ethan Cohen have laid out how the complex process to replace Biden will likely play out now that Biden is no longer the Democrat’s presumptive nominee.
Individual delegates will now select the party’s nominee during the Democratic convention in Chicago next month — or, potentially, during a virtual roll call. But because Biden won nearly all of the delegates during the primary process; they were approved by the Biden campaign and pledged to vote for the president. This means that while the delegates can vote however they like, it will largely be Biden backers who will be picking the nominee.
That doesn’t mean that a candidate who isn’t endorsed by Biden couldn’t attempt to secure the nomination. Some Democrats are calling for an “open process” to replace Biden, which would see other candidates in addition to Harris join the race.
