Joe Biden gives up: Is the USA now sinking into chaos?

Berliner Zeitung Joe Biden gives up: Is the USA now sinking into chaos? Michael Maier • 1 hour • 3 minutes reading time Immediately after Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the race for the US presidential election and passing the baton to his Vice President Kamala Harris, important groups supporting Harris came forward: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, the left-wing politician Ilhan Omar and other grandees of the US Democrats. Even more importantly: According to NBC, several sponsors said they now wanted to support Harris. According to the Wall Street Journal, the "Democratic mega-donors" George and Alex Soros have also called on the Democrats to unite behind Harris. This is remarkable because the same donors had stated until a few days ago that they did not consider Harris to be a suitable candidate. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced this on X. However, the grandees and the financiers have a fundamental problem: Like Kamala Harris herself, they have to convince the delegates at the nominating convention to vote for Harris. Joe Biden had won the primaries with ease, and Harris was knocked out of the race at an early stage. Now the convention is threatened with grassroots chaos, which neither the party grandees nor the financiers want. In addition, Donald Trump has now put out feelers for Larry Fink of Blackrock and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan in addition to Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. He is said to have promised both of them ministerial posts in order to win over Wall Street to his campaign. So for the Democrats it is all about keeping the donors on board. According to ABC, Kamala Harris began initial talks on Sunday to secure the support of important Democrats. She will be fully occupied in the coming weeks and will then have to throw herself fully into the election campaign. This is precisely why the Republicans demanded on Sunday evening that Biden should resign immediately. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said in a statement, according to Fox News: "If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign from office immediately. November 5th cannot come soon enough." If Democrats believe Joe Biden is unfit to run for re-election, "he is certainly not fit to control the codes of our nuclear weapons," said House Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) minutes after news of Biden's withdrawal broke. "Biden must resign from office immediately." The leader of the Republican caucus in the House, Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), said: "If Joe Biden cannot run for re-election, he is unfit and unfit to serve as president of the United States. He must resign immediately. The Democratic Party is in absolute freefall due to its obviously corrupt and desperate attempt to cover up the fact that Joe Biden is unfit for office." The Republicans know that Kamala Harris can be more dangerous to Donald Trump than the aged Joe Biden. Even though Harris has not cut a particularly good figure so far, she is believed to be able to challenge Trump. The New York Times writes that Harris has been underestimated so far. The Financial Times writes that Harris, as a former prosecutor, can be an unpleasant opponent for Trump - especially in a potentially decisive TV debate. The hopes of both parties that the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could join their side and thus decisively influence the outcome in one direction or the other were dashed on Sunday: RFK announced at a press conference that he was sticking to his candidacy because both parties consider the interests of companies more important than the concerns of the American people. He sees himself as the candidate most likely to beat Donald Trump. However, RFK did not rule out holding talks with the Democrats if they approached him. If Biden were to resign immediately - which is conceivable even beyond party tactical considerations due to his poor health - Harris would hardly be able to concentrate fully on the election campaign as president. However, she could use a short term as president to make a name for herself. This is not a development that the Republicans would want. However, given the party's disunity, it is questionable whether the Democrats have the courage to gamble so high. In any case, the coming months are likely to bring some chaotic moments - which in turn is likely to cause the bureaucratic forces and government agencies to hold the reins of power even more tightly than before.