Speaker Johnson calls on Biden to resign after the president announces he won’t seek reelection
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately,” Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him on Sunday, in a major and historic move that upends the presidential race.
“Having invalidated the votes of more than 14 million Americans who selected Joe Biden to be the Democrat nominee for president, the self-proclaimed ‘party of democracy’ has proven exactly the opposite,” Johnson said.
As speaker of the House, Johnson is second in the line of presidential succession behind Harris.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell in a statement similarly accused the Democratic Party of “trying to upend the expressed will of the American people in primary elections across the country.” In contrast, however, McConnell did not call on Biden to resign the presidency.
While other Republican senators and members of Congress call for Biden to resign and accuse Democrats of disregarding their own primary results, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska praised the president for his decision.
“I respect President Biden’s decision to act in the best interest of the country by stepping aside in the 2024 presidential election,” she said.
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Michael Williams contributed to this report.
In the context of political succession, as speaker of the House, Johnson has a significant role, being second in line behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Despite some Republican calls for Biden's resignation due to alleged election invalidations, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell did not advocate for this step.
