As the waves of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he won’t seek another term in the White House rippled through Utah, leaders in the primarily Republican state responded with courteous and supportive messages — for the most part.
Biden’s exit creates some uncertainty around Democrats’ presidential ticket, though Biden went on to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, beginning a stream of support for her. Harris said she intends “to earn and win” the nomination.
The news came weeks after Biden’s obvious struggle on the debate stage against GOP candidate former President Donald Trump. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox shared his own father’s struggles with Parkinson’s disease as he posted on X, saying “Getting old is hard,” and that doing so in the public eye must be even harder.
“I’m sure this was a terribly difficult decision for President Biden and his family. He has always been gracious and kind to me and my family—and all the other governors in the NGA. I don’t need to list all our disagreements today. But I do need to thank him for his dedication and years of service to our country and for making the right decision,” Cox wrote.
The governor’s Democratic challenger, Rep. Brian King, thanked Cox for his compassionate response. He went on to praise Biden’s decades of service.
“His decision today to step out of this race is an act of public good over personal interest,” King posted on X. “I am excited to see our country come together to nominate a candidate and to continue the commonsense, good governance that the Biden Administration has started.”
U.S. GOP Sen. Mike Lee, however, was quick to declare on his official Senate X profile that “If Joe Biden is unfit to run for re-election, he is unfit to remain president. He should resign.”
Lee repeated that sentiment on his personal @BasedMikeLee account, alleging through numerous posts that Vice President Kamala Harris and others had been hiding Biden’s true mental and physical condition for more than a year, that the timing of Biden’s departure from the race was a conspiracy to secure Democrats’ presidential nomination for Harris without subjecting her to a primary, and snarking “Are we sure Joe Biden knows he’s out of the race?”
“If he were stepping down from both the presidency and his candidacy, he could more credibly argue that he’s doing this because of health and age,” Lee wrote. “But stepping down from one and not the other feels like cheating.”
President Joe Biden bows out of reelection campaign, Harris vows to win nomination
Republican U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens also called for Biden to resign, saying “The Democratic Party will now engage in a completely undemocratic process to find a new candidate, who Donald J. Trump will beat in a landslide this November.”
Owens also shared allegations that Harris and other Democrats have misled the nation about Biden’s health, and criticized Harris’ record as a prosecutor in California.
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney issued a statement Sunday offering “warm personal wishes” from himself and his wife, Ann Romney.
“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.
“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,” Romney said.
With criticism of Democrats’ handling of inflation, border security and “faltering in international leadership,” Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis posted on X, “It is deeply concerning to have witnessed President Biden’s decline during his time in the White House. His decision to not seek a second term is the best for our country.”
Curtis is running to replace Romney in the Senate. His Democratic opponent, mountaineer and environmental activist Caroline Gleich, offered “my deepest gratitude to the President for his five decades of public service” and praised his administration’s work on climate and clean energy initiatives.
On Monday she added a post in support of Harris’ bid for the White House, saying “I’ve learned that how we treat people is how we treat the planet. If nature is a mother, then we must elevate the status of women, girls and mothers everywhere.”
In the Utah Legislature, the Democratic minorities in the state Senate and House and their leadership issued statements commending the difficult decision Biden had made to step down and praising his legacy of work on issues like gun safety, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections, climate change and access to child care.
Written by McKENZIE ROMERO, Utah News Dispatch
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