Delaware leaders, voters react to President Biden dropping out of 2024 race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) — Vice President Kamala Harris visited Wilmington Monday to meet with President Biden's campaign staff at their downtown headquarters.
The visit comes one day after Mr. Biden announced he was no longer seeking re-election and endorsed Harris.
Before Harris spoke to staffers Monday, Mr. Biden called into the meeting.
"I want to say to the team, embrace her, she's the best," the president said.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, who represents Delaware and is a close friend of Mr. Biden, described to reporters the moment he was giving a speech Sunday when he got a phone call from the president.
"I was speaking. My phone was going off, and I ignored it," Coons said. "I turn my phone over. The president had tried to call me just before he made the announcement, so I stepped outside, took a call from the president, talked with him about his decision."
Coons described President Biden's decision as "selfless."
"I do think President Biden has made the right decision," Coons said. "It was a hard and painful decision. As one of the co-chairs of the Biden-Harris campaign, it wasn't where I thought we were headed, but he listened."
In downtown Wilmington, about a block from where Harris was meeting with campaign staffers, Jade Gabos said Mr. Biden has had a major impact on the state.
"He's such an icon here in Delaware," Gabos said. "It's wonderful knowing that we, as the first state, contributed to having somebody in office."
Mr. Biden, who is the first president from Delaware, has a close relationship with the state, and his 2024 campaign headquarters are in Wilmington.
Naomi Mitchell said she was shocked when Mr. Biden announced he was no longer seeking re-election, but she's excited about Harris's potential to become the first Black woman and first Asian-American president.
"I'll definitely be excited and hyped," Mitchell said. "It's just seeing representation and being excited because it's just people around me that are getting representation, and it's exciting."
Gregory Lloyd Morris, a special assistant to Wilmington's mayor, said he supports a Harris campaign.
"I think it is necessary. I think that Kamala Harris personally is the nation's opportunity to be rescued," Morris said. "When Barack Obama was in office, I thought I had seen the epitome of what could happen for an African American in this country, and here we are now, in the precipice of, now we need an African American woman to balance this out."
Matt Whittle said if a Democrat were to be elected president, he would prefer someone who was more centrist like Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent from West Virginia.
Manchin, who was previously a Democrat, said Monday he will not seek the nomination.
Whittle said he'd prefer if Donald Trump didn't run for president, though he believes the former president will win.
"If he gets in, there's going to be a lot of so-called whining on social media," Whittle said. "I'm going to have to hear my neighbors. It was exhausting. The coverage on the media 24 hours a day, it's exhausting."
Coons was emotional during an interview with CBS News Sunday.
"Joe Biden is grounded. He's grounded in his faith, in his family and in our state … This was a very difficult decision and one that I think reflects the very best of who Joe Biden is, someone who … comes home because it's where his strength is," Coons said.
Coons has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, following Biden's lead.
Delaware Sen. Tom Carper noted in a statement Sunday that Biden stepping aside will allow him to "give his undivided attention to the awesome responsibilities of serving as our commander-in-chief."
"It has been my privilege to serve the people of Delaware and America with Joe Biden for 50 years. I love him like a brother. He's a proud Democrat, but he's an American first," Carper said in the statement. "From the day he took office, he has consistently said that in the end, his final decision on running for re-election would be based on what's best for America. His decision today meets that standard, and I am immensely proud of him for that."
