Jen Psaki, who once served as Joe Biden's Press Secretary, responded to his resignation live on air.
In the weeks after the first Presidential debate, several Democratic lawmakers called for Joe Biden to drop out of the race. For several weeks, Biden rejected those calls. On Sunday, he changed his mind and released a letter announcing that he was leaving the race.
Psaki received the news during her Sunday show and reacted live on air. She first read Biden's letter before telling viewers:
"Obviously, this is a significant breaking news development, with the president announcing he stepping back from the race. There’s very little indication from people close to him and many people in the campaign that this was about to happen, as much as there were reports of Democrats calling on him to do that.
What is interesting I will note… is that he does not endorse the vice president in the statement. We will see what he says later this week and there’s going to be a lot of reactions from people, coming in and as the statement was just put out by the White House."
While Psaki noted that Biden did not back Harris in his letter, he did so shortly after in a post on X. The President wrote:
"My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this."