Many Democrats Back Harris for 2024 Race, But Pelosi and Others Remain Silent

But there are still many doubts within the Democratic Party about Harris’ ability to beat Trump, the Republican nominee and former president.

Biden himself threw his support behind Harris on Sunday, in a separate statement following her letter announcing her resignation. He was quickly followed by the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, several key donors, lawmakers including U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and super PACs including Priorities USA and Unite the Country.

“Today I want to give my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year,” Biden said on the social media platform X. “Democrats, it’s time to unite and defeat Trump. Let’s do it.”

Dmitri Mehlhorn, an adviser to LinkedIn founder and major Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, called Harris “the American dream personified,” noting that she is the daughter of immigrants. “She is also the epitome of toughness, having left my hometown of Oakland, California, to become the state’s top prosecutor. With Scranton Joe out of office, I look forward to helping elect Harris as President.”

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both Democrats, also endorsed Harris in statements.

Still others, including Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president for eight years, have thanked Biden for his patriotism but have yet to endorse Harris or any other candidate.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said in a statement. “But I have extraordinary confidence in the ability of our party’s leaders to create a process that will produce an exceptional nominee.”

Just as he did in 2020, when Biden secured the Democratic nomination, Obama believes he will be uniquely positioned to help unify the party once it has a nominee, a source familiar with the matter said.

U.S. Senator Peter Welch, the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to drop his re-election bid, called for an open nomination process.

Democrats should have “an open process so that whoever our nominee is, including Kamala, has the strength to have a process that shows the consensus position of the party,” Welch said. “The debate within the Democratic Party is who can carry on President Biden’s legacy and defeat Trump.”

A Democratic donor told Reuters he would support a Harris presidential bid and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as vice president, in order to win votes in Pennsylvania. It is not yet clear who Harris would choose as her running mate if she were nominated.

Shapiro endorsed Harris on Sunday.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly, Nandita Bose, Bianca Flowers, Jarrett Renshaw, Andrea Shalal, Jonathan Landay, Kanishka Singh and Jeff Mason; editing by Heather Timmons, Matthew Lewis, Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)

Disclaimer: This report is auto-generated by Reuters news service. ThePrint takes no responsibility for its content.