Trump, JD Vance, Republican lawmakers react to Biden's decision to drop out of presidential race

President Biden's unprecedented announcement on Sunday that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race prompted reactions from both sides of the aisle. 

Here's how former President Donald Trump — the 2024 GOP nominee — as well as Republican senators, members of Congress, governors and high-profile party members are reacting to the president's decision to leave the race just weeks before the Democratic Convention, handing his endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former President Donald Trump

Trump said in a phone conversation Sunday with CBS News' Robert Costa that Mr. Biden's announcement came as "a shock to the country."

Trump said he believed Mr. Biden was pressured out of the race and "shouldn't have been our president."

He also said that he wasn't sure if Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democrats' nominee, but that while he waits to see how the race emerges, it wouldn't affect the way he proceeds with his campaign. Trump said he was running against the Biden administration's record regardless of who ended up on the ticket. 

"I think she is no better than him. She could be far less competent, which is hard to believe," Trump said to Costa. "The polls seem to think I'd do better against her than I do against him." 

He also announced on social media that he was pulling out of plans for a presidential debate on ABC on Sept. 10, which he had previously agreed to. 

"Now that Joe has, not surprisingly, has quit the race, I think the Debate, with whomever the Radical Left Democrats choose, should be held on FoxNews, rather than very biased ABC," he wrote.

Earlier, in a post to his social media platform, Trump lambasted President Biden. "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!" he wrote. "He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement."

In another statement on his social media platform, Trump wrote, "Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation. He has done everything possible to destroy our Country, from our Southern Border, to Energy Dominance, National Security, International Standing, and so much more."

"He was annihilated in an Earth Shattering Debate, and now the Corrupt and Radical Democrats are throwing him overboard," Trump added.

In yet another social media post, Trump claimed without evidence that Mr. Biden never really had COVID.

"Does anybody really believe that Crooked Joe had Covid? No, he wanted to get out ever since June 27th, the night of The Debate, where he was completely obliterated. That was the big moment in Joe Biden's demise," Trump wrote.

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio

"Joe Biden has been the worst President in my lifetime and Kamala Harris has been right there with him every step of the way," Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, wrote on social media late Sunday afternoon.

"Over the last four years she co-signed Biden's open border and green scam policies that drove up the cost of housing and groceries," Vance wrote. "She owns all of these failures, and she lied for nearly four years about Biden's mental capacity--saddling the nation with a president who can't do the job. President Trump and I are ready to save America, whoever's at the top of the Democrat ticket. Bring it on."

Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana

House Speaker Johnson said Mr. Biden's announcement posed "an unprecedented juncture in American history" and claimed the president's decision invalidated the votes of millions of Americans who selected Biden as the Democratic nominee. 

"The party's prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden Administration," Johnson said in a statement, calling on Mr. Biden to resign immediately. 

"If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President," Johnson wrote, adding, "November 5 cannot arrive soon enough."

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

"For four years, the American people have faced historic inflation at home, chaos at the border, and weak leadership on the world stage," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. "Our nation is less prosperous and less secure than it was in January, 2021. We cannot afford four more years of failure."

"Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has been busy in recent weeks trying to upend the expressed will of the American people in primary elections across the country," McConnell added. "Washington Democrats have not proven themselves any more capable than the President of delivering the secure borders, safe streets, and stable prices that working families deserve."

Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise claimed that Democratic party leaders had "absolutely no respect for their own voters."

"After lecturing others about democracy, they just forced Joe Biden off the ticket, trashing the primary choice of 14 million of their own voters," Scalise said in a statement.

"For years, Democrats and their partners in the media maligned Americans who questioned the President's fitness based on what they saw with their own eyes as conspiracy theorists," Scalise wrote. "Every single one of these people - especially Vice President Harris - who participated in this cover up must answer for their involvement."

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida

"Kamala Harris was complicit in a massive coverup to hide and deny the fact that Joe Biden was not capable of discharging the duties of the office," Gov. DeSantis wrote on social media, blaming Harris for what he called "the worst border crisis in American history."

"Democrats are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," DeSantis wrote.

Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota

Majority Whip Tom Emmer joined the Republican lawmakers calling on Mr. Biden to resign. 

"If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he's certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes," Emmer wrote on social media. "Biden must step down from office immediately."

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York

Rep. Stefanik, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, also claimed that Mr. Biden's announcement shows he isn't fit to currently serve as president. 

"If Joe Biden can't run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States," Stefanik said in a statement, urging Mr. Biden to "immediately resign."

"Every elected Democrat in America owns Joe Biden's failed and feckless record causing the border crisis, Bidenflation, and chaos and weakness around the world," she wrote. "President Trump will win this November to save America."

Later Sunday, Stefanik wrote on social media that she planned to introduce a resolution Monday that condemned Harris' role in what she called "the most catastrophic open border crisis in history."

Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah

Sen. Romney, who was the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, said in a statement that while he and Mr. Biden differed on many issues, the president has his respect.

"I'm a classic Republican and he's a classic Democrat; obviously, President Biden and I usually didn't see eye-to-eye. I opposed many of his initiatives. But we did find common ground on infrastructure, Ukraine, the Electoral Count Act, adding religious liberty protections to the marriage bill, gun safety measures, and chip manufacturing," he wrote.

"Others will judge his presidency. However, having worked with him these past few years, I respect President Biden. His decision to withdraw from the race was right and is in the best interest of the country."

Sen. Steve Daines of Montana

Sen. Daines formally called on Mr. Biden to resign, saying the president "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 execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief," Daines said in a statement. "It is out of concern for our country's national security that I am formally calling on President Biden to resign from office."

"It has also been striking that none of the Senate Democrats who served with Vice President Harris have called for her to replace President Biden," Daines added, saying he had doubts about Harris's ability to serve as president. 

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida

"Let me be clear, if Joe Biden can't run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign today," Sen. Scott said in a statement.

"It was painfully clear that Biden wasn't competent for office going way back to 2021," Scott wrote. "Democrats laughed when I said Biden should be removed from office after his deadly Afghanistan withdrawal disaster. They're not laughing now. Over those four years, we have seen immense damage done to our country. Our border is wide-open, inflation is crushing American families, and countless Americans have lost their lives at home and abroad due to the policy decisions of Joe Biden and his 'border czar' Kamala Harris."

"While we welcome the news that one of America's most destructive presidents will be denied a second term, it changes very little as to the stakes of this election," he added. "We cannot allow the American dream to be destroyed and replaced with California socialism. Come November, we will defeat the Democrats, elect Donald J. Trump, take back the Senate and the House, and save our country."

Republican National Committee leaders

"President Trump will win this election because he is the only person who will rebuild our southern border, restore our economy and secure our standing in the world," RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chairman Lara Trump said in a statement following Mr. Biden's announcement.

"Every single failure we've seen from Joe Biden – the Afghanistan withdrawal, a border crisis, crushing inflation, and America weakened abroad – has been delivered hand-in-hand with Kamala Harris," they said. "Not only would Harris be a disaster in the White House, but she also helped Biden cover up his declining health while in office, which destroys her credibility."

"As Democrats fall apart, President Trump is uniting the American people behind his winning agenda," they added.

NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson

Richard Hudson, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman, said in a statement, "This is a scandal of historic proportions – our president is incapacitated, Democrats knew, and they lied to the American people to cover it up. Voters will neither forgive nor forget the ultimate betrayal of their trust."

"Judgment day is coming in November, when Americans will hand down Democrats' ultimate punishment: Donald Trump in the White House and a larger House Republican majority," Hudson wrote, adding, "If the president is mentally unfit to campaign, he is mentally unfit to have the nuclear codes. Every House Democrat must now answer: is the president fit to serve the rest of his term?"

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

"Make no mistake, whether it's border czar Kamala Harris or someone else, it's the Biden/Harris Adminstration's weak leadership and resulting chaos around the world and here at home that is on the ballot this November," Gov. Youngkin wrote on social media late Sunday afternoon.

He called on the nation to come together "to secure our borders, structure safe communities, grow an economy that lifts up all Americans and restores peace through strength."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves

"Have you ever seen a politician so strong and talented he made his opponent quit in the middle of the race? I have: Donald J. Trump," Gov. Reeves quipped on social media. 

Trump presidential campaign

In a strongly worded statement earlier Sunday, senior Trump campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles called Mr. Biden "weak, pathetic, and incompetent."

"Kamala Harris is just as much of joke as Biden is," the advisers wrote. "Harris will be even WORSE for the people of our Nation than Joe Biden. Harris has been the Enabler in Chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other's records, and there is no distance between the two."

"Biden is a national security threat in great cognitive decline and a clear and present danger to every man, woman, and child in our country," they added. "The question then to Kamala Harris is simple: knowing that Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign because of his rapidly deteriorating condition, does Harris believe the people of America are safe and secure with Joe Biden in the White House for six more months?"

Donald Trump Jr.

"Kamala Harris owns the entire leftwing policy record of Joe Biden," Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote to CBS News. "The only difference is that she is even more liberal and less competent than Joe, which is really saying something."

In:
• Joe Biden
• Democratic Party
• Donald Trump
• Republican Party

S. Dev

S. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.