Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the 2024 campaign is yet another significant moment in this year’s US election, following on from the attempted assassination of Donald Trump the previous Saturday, July 13.

Not since 1968, when Lyndon Johnson withdrew from the nomination process, has the incumbent president not stood for his party’s nomination for a second term in office.

Following his announcement, Biden followed up with a second statement proposing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the presumptive nominee for November’s election. Biden offered his “full support and endorsement” for Harris.

Almost immediately, Democratic Party members praised Biden’s decision to put the good of the country above personal ambition. Harris thanked Biden for his “decades of service to our country”, while the former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, called Biden one of the most “consequential presidents in American history”.

Messages of thanks to Biden were quickly followed by those of support for Harris, including potential rivals for the candidacy, such as California governor Gavin Newsom, who called Harris: “Tough. Tenacious. Fearless,” and insisted, “No one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision.”

Former president Barack Obama praised Biden on his “commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on”. But, significantly, he failed to explicitly endorse Harris. Instead, Obama wrote that he believed that “the........

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