Zinger Key Points
- Calls to replace Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election are growing; picking a replacement could be a tough decision.
- Vice President Kamala Harris is one of several names that are mentioned as replacements in the event Biden steps down.
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Chaos could be coming in the 2024 presidential election, with increased calls for President Joe Biden to step aside and make way for a new candidate.
While picking a replacement could be a tough decision and be based on who has the best shot of defeating Donald Trump, the item of fundraising may also come into play.
What Happened: Vice President Kamala Harris is among the leading candidates who would be selected to replace Biden if he were to step down from the 2024 presidential race.
Harris could be one of the easiest replacements since she has name familiarity, has been serving under Biden for years and has polled well in head-to-head matchups against Trump.
Another reason to replace Biden with Harris would be to make the moving of campaign donations easier.
Harris would inherit $240 million in fundraising money if Biden drops out, according to a report from the New York Post. Much of the money raised is non-transferable and belongs to the Biden-Harris campaign according to the report.
"Biden has two real choices: Kamala inherits; or they transfer it all to the DNC," Signum Global partner Rob Casey told The Post. "That money would all be accessed by Kamala … anyone else would be on their own for fundraising."
This means that other potential replacement names who have been mentioned like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former First Lady Michelle Obama would have another obstacle to overcome in the presidential race.
Harris and Biden are both named in federal paperwork for the campaign that has received a growing amount of donations as the election enters the home stretch.
The money could also be reimbursed to donors.
Why It's Important: With around four months before the 2024 presidential election, the move to replace Biden would be unprecedented and come with huge obstacles.
Trump has been the odds-on favorite for sportsbooks and prediction markets for months while his placement in election polls has also shown gains on Biden since the first presidential debate.
Choosing someone other than Harris to replace Biden could come with the hurdle of trying to raise money to defeat Trump in the election. The new candidate would be able to draw money from political action committees and likely some from the Democratic National Committee. Questions over how much money would be available and how easy it would be to access it are likely troublesome in the event a new replacement is picked.
Biden's campaign raised $127 million in June, which marked the best month for the president's 2024 re-election effort.
The president's campaign is spending around $50 million monthly on presidential ads ahead of the election.
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