Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina state legislator and CNN analyst said Democrat voters are “pissed off” by President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race and blamed party leadership for pressing him into halting his campaign.
In a Sunday interview on “CNN Newsroom,” Sellers said his phone has been “blowing up” with concerned Dems fearful Kamala Harris will be “pushed” off the ticket as they believe Joe Biden was after his announcement he is putting an end to his bid for reelection.
“My phone is blowing up with people who are pissed off, and the reason they’re pissed off is because they feel like people from on high pushed Joe Biden out the door,” said Sellers.
“A text that I just got from a friend was like, ‘If they pushed Joe Biden out the door, what are they going to do with Kamala Harris?’ They will probably try to push her too. There’s a great deal of fear out there, especially among the people who’ve done the damage, the Nancy Pelosis, the Chuck Schumers, and those ‘elders’ in leadership. It would behoove us all if they came out and wrap their arms around Kamala Harris sooner rather than later.”
Sellers added, “And probably save those celebratory mimosas for another day…”
Announcement came as an increasing number of Dem lawmakers urged him to step aside
Biden’s announcement comes as an increasing number of Democratic legislators have begun publicly urging him to step aside. The party leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden he couldn’t win in the November general election against former President Donald Trump.
The top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, reportedly told the president in a “blunt one-on-one conversation” last week that it would be best if he “bowed out of the race,” according to an ABC report posted on X.
Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California, the former Speaker of the House, reportedly told Biden in a phone call that polls show he cannot defeat Trump in November and that remaining in the race could destroy Democrats’ chances of taking the White House in November.
President Biden offered his “full support and endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris to take the reins as the party’s presidential nominee. An endorsement from the president is likely to dissuade any significant competition from other Democrats who may have considered a bid for the nomination and could clear the way for Harris to succeed Biden as the party’s nominee.
Following the news, Schumer said, “Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader, but he is a truly amazing human being. His decision was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.”
The Trump campaign rapidly began fundraising after the blockbuster announcement. Within 440 minutes of the president’s announcement, the campaign put out a fundraising post on X with the subject line, “Biden just suspended his campaign.”