Voters from Phoenix to Florida responded to President Biden’s historic decision not to remain in the race — and were divided over who should replace him.
By Marlene Lenthang, George Solis, Alex Tabet, Jillian Frankel and Emma Barnett
Voters across the U.S. said they were stunned after President Joe Biden announced that he was dropping his re-election bid, sending the presidential race in an unexpected direction that some embraced and others eyed with concern.
Some Biden supporters who spoke to NBC News on Sunday afternoon said they were disappointed in his decision, while others who had planned to vote for him were energized by the idea that a different candidate could fare better against former President Donald Trump.
“It could be an opportunity for great change or terrible change,” said Jamie Yu, 27, a nurse in Phoenix.
She had been planning to vote for Biden in November, but only because “I don’t want to vote for Donald Trump,” she said. “I don’t want him in office.”
Shortly after he made his announcement on X, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee for the Democratic ticket.
Lauren Adelman-Tomasulo, 66, a Pilates instructor who had planned to vote for Biden for a second time, said she thinks Harris “is going to be strong and get things done.” And she urged the Democratic Party to focus on uniting behind her to beat Trump.
“I think they need to pull themselves together, make decisions quickly and move ahead,” Adelman-Tomasulo said.
But Harris wasn’t a choice everyone was rallying around.
In Butler, Pennsylvania, not far from where Trump survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally on July 13, Angela Bost said she thought Harris’ gender might stop her from getting votes: “I think a lot of men might not be all right with that.”
And even some who said they would vote for her raised questions about her views and record.
Casey Brett, a Democratic voter from Grand Rapids, Michigan, described Harris as “obviously the safe choice.”
“I personally don’t know if that’s the best choice for the Democratic Party,” she added, “but at the same time, if the Democratic Party feels like she’s the best fit, then that’s what they’re going to go with.”
For Brett, the change at the top of the ticket will not change her vote.
“I’m a Democratic voter, so I will say my hope is to have someone in that party become president,” she said, noting her top voting issue is women’s rights — “specifically abortion.”
“Anything that’s going to be threatening towards that, I will not tolerate,” she added.
Some voters said they wanted a different nominee, instead. More than one person floated former first lady Michelle Obama. Ron Brooker, 77, a Phoenix resident who had planned to vote for Biden, proposed Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
Regardless of who the new nominee is, “they need to hammer him on the fact that he’s a convicted felon,” Brooker said of the attack lines against Trump.
For some Trump supporters, Biden’s exit only boosted their resolve.
Tyler Kunkowski, 18, a Republican from Florida who was in Washington, D.C., for America in One Room: The Youth Vote, a gathering of first-time voters to discuss policy issues, said the news about Biden made him “happy” because “that gives Trump the election.”
“A lot of Democrats do not support Kamala Harris, and no other candidate has enough time to get a strong campaign together by election time. So I don’t feel like any other candidate had a chance to beat Trump,” he said.
Casey Bushick, 34, of Atlanta, who had already decided to support Trump, said Biden’s announcement didn’t change anything. “I just think that he’s a good businessman,” Bushick said.
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Many voters said that they were surprised by Biden’s decision but that at the same time, they understood the growing concerns about his age and competency, particularly after his struggles in last month’s debate against Trump.
“I kind of feel sorry for him all the work that he’s put in, and I think he was getting a lot of pressure to just say: No more, I’m done,” Adelman-Tomasulo said.
Some voters described a sense of uncertainty as they confronted the turbulent political landscape.
“I think the scary part of it all is that we just don’t know [what’s] going to happen. We don’t know where it’s going to go,” said Carrie Robb, in Butler, Pennsylvania, who didn’t say which candidate she supported. “Now that kind of shows that people’s votes don’t really matter, no matter who you vote for, it’s Democrat, Republican, it doesn’t matter — just does our vote even count anymore?”
Meanwhile, Steven Dilts, an independent voter from Alaska who was in Washington for the America in One Room gathering, said he saw it as an opening for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“I think this is Kennedy’s chance,” Dilts said of Biden’s exiting the race. “I think that Biden will have a lot of his voters that agree with what Kennedy thinks. More so than Kamala.”
NBC
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