Joe Biden withdraws from 2024 presidential race

I was sad to be quite honest because I was supporting him to the very end. So I was sad in the beginning but when he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris I felt relieved. Tonight at 10 tonight we are hearing from a growing number of Alaska Democrat delegates endorsing Vice President Harris that as Alaska Republicans continue reacting to the breaking news of President Joe Biden withdrawing from the presidential race. As we come on the air at 10 a growing number of Democrats across the country are joining President Biden in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris hours after the President shocked many in the country by dropping out of the race. That as a growing number of Republicans are calling for the President to leave office now. The President who says he'll address the nation later in the week as he continues to recover from COVID said in a statement it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President and while it has been my intention to seek re-election I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term. Vice President Kamala Harris is now officially a candidate for President shortly after President Biden made that announcement Vice President Harris became a presidential candidate. New federal election commission filings show Biden's President committees changed the name to Harris for President. In her statement the Vice President said she looks forward to earning the nomination. Democratic ticket will be formally nominated next month at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and one of those delegates who's scheduled to be in Chicago is Alaska's Democratic Party Chair Mike Winstrup who told me this afternoon that he's endorsing Vice President Harris. Winstrup says it's up to each of Alaska's Democratic delegates to decide who they want to be the next President including those who are already pledged to President Biden. The party chair says many Alaska Democrats he's hearing from are both saddened and hopeful about the party coming together to win in November. My biggest reaction was just I've yet seen yet another example of how selfless and how much of a patriot President Biden is. You know once again he's putting party he's putting this country ahead of his own interests and what he wants. He's been one of the most consequential presidents of my lifetime and I think this is yet just another example of him putting America first. People I've talked to and reached out to have said there's sort of sadness because they love President Biden but there's also excitement about nominating Vice President Harris. I think everyone's a little bit shocked and just trying to absorb the reactions but from what I've seen from who I've heard and what I've seen on social media and from the people who've reached out to me what I really see is a renewed excitement to go out and elect Kamala Harris as our next President. And besides the Democratic Party Chair we're hearing reaction from other Alaska Democrats set to head to Chicago next month and some state Republicans just back in town from the RNC in Milwaukee. Lexi Elverton continues our complete coverage after speaking with both sides. Lex? Joe since we saw you earlier tonight we've learned State Senator LB Greg Jackson who's a state delegate and representative. All right thanks so much Lex. Former President Donald Trump calling Biden a fraud today in a statement. His campaign also out with a lengthy statement. They quickly tied Harris to Biden's record including immigration inflation and the end to the war in Afghanistan. Trump campaign ending their statement by saying quote the question then to Kamala Harris is simple knowing that Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign because of his rapidly deteriorating condition. Does Harris believe the people of America are safe and secure with Joe Biden in the White House for six more months? That Trump advance campaign question which is the tone of so many Republicans share tonight comes as the Vice President is set to make her fifth visit to the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday. That visit was announced just two days ahead of the President's decision to drop out of the race. Vanessa Kelsen now joins us with what's at stake during that visit. The Biden-Harris team is moving fast within hours of Biden's announcement to drop out of the race. This story continues to develop and we broke this news to you through a push alert on Alaska's news source this morning. Moments after that news broke and that's the quickest way to get breaking news updates as they happen. We post them first on alaskasnewsource.com and on our mobile app. Now it's that time of night to head over to the weather center where we have meteorologist Robert Forge that has a first look at our forecast. Hey Joe take a look at this this is the live shot right now.