WASHINGTON — Some Republicans immediately reacted to President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not seek reelection in November by demanding that he also step down from the presidency.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president. He must resign from his position immediately. November 5th can’t come soon enough,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement shortly after Biden revealed his decision.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the conference chair and fourth-ranking House Republican, added: “If Joe Biden is unable to run for re-election, he will be incapable and unfit to serve as president of the United States. He must resign immediately.”
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It was a widespread response within the Republican Party, with several others reacting similarly, including Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas:
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chairman of the Republican Party’s Senate campaign arm, said he is “formally asking President Biden to resign from office…out of concern for our country’s national security.”
“If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as president. Being president is the hardest job in the world and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively perform his duties as commander in chief,” Daines said in a statement.
Biden said in his Sunday statement that he will “step aside” from the presidential race and “will focus exclusively on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.” While many Democrats have called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race, none have pushed for him to leave the presidency early. Democratic skeptics did not question Biden’s ability to get the job done, but rather the decline in his communications skills and his ability to wage a vigorous campaign until November, following his poor debate performance.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, proposed that Biden be forcibly removed from office through the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which governs succession if a president cannot fulfill his duties.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for re-election, he is not fit to serve his term,” Mullin said in X. “25th Amendment.”
Far-right Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said: “How is he strong enough to continue serving as commander in chief of the strongest nation in the world? Joe Biden should resign.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of contradicting the will of voters who chose Biden as their nominee in a statement, adding, “We cannot allow four more years of failure.”
But McConnell, 82, a longtime friend of Biden who is leaving office at the end of this term, has not joined GOP calls for the president to step down before his term ends.
Some Republicans, including Johnson, have criticized the Democratic Party for Biden’s decision to withdraw and support Vice President Kamala Harris as standard bearer this fall.
“Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who chose Joe Biden to be the Democratic nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite,” Johnson said in his statement, seeking to undermine an important decision. Democratic attack line against Donald Trump this campaign season – that the former president worked to undermine US democracy.
“The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris,” Johnson added.
Other Trump allies responded by saying that Trump has been running not just against Biden, but against an entire party and system.
“Presidents Trump never ran against just Joe Biden. He has been running against the destruction of America brought about by Democrats and their policies,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on Xadding that Democrats locked “a coup” against Biden.
Vivek Ramaswamy, former presidential candidate and Trump supporter, he said: “We are not running against a candidate. We are running against a system.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
