'Not fit to serve': Speaker Johnson leads GOP demands for Biden to resign from presidency

Republican lawmakers are calling on President Biden to resign from office immediately after he announced he will not seek re-election in November.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement, "If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough."

"If the Democrat party has deemed Joe Biden unfit to run for re-election, he's certainly unfit to control our nuclear codes," House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said minutes after the bombshell news broke. "Biden must step down from office immediately."

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., similarly said, "If Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is unable and unfit to serve as President of the United States. He must immediately resign. The Democrat Party is in absolute free fall for their blatantly corrupt and desperate attempt to cover up the fact that Joe Biden is unfit for office."

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"If Joe Biden is unfit to be the Democrat nominee for president, he’s unfit to be president for the rest of his term. For the good of the country, Joe Biden should resign immediately," said Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

The 81-year-old president has been under mounting pressure to drop out of the 2024 presidential race in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump last month. 

His weak showing spurred concerns over whether he had the mental and physical stability to run a campaign and serve another four-year term. 

Biden finally bowed to that pressure on Sunday, writing in a public letter, "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."

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Democratic lawmakers who have called on Biden to drop out have insisted they are confident he can finish the roughly five months left in his term. 

Some of their arguments against his candidacy include that questions about his fitness for office are a distraction from the campaign, while others have said their concerns lie with where he will be four years down the road, rather than the immediate future.

But Republicans who have long claimed Biden is not mentally fit for office have seized on his announcement as vindication of their doubts.

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Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chair of the Senate GOP's campaign arm, said in a statement, "If Joe Biden is no longer capable of running for re-election, he is no longer capable of serving as President. Being President is the hardest job in the world, and I no longer have confidence that Joe Biden can effectively execute his duties as Commander-in-Chief. It is out of concern for our country’s national security that I am formally calling on President Biden to resign from office."

"If this man CAN’T run for President with an election in just 4 months then who’s running our country?" Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, wrote on X.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on the platform, "Doesn’t have the mental acuity or cognitive ability to run a political campaign but can serve for 6 more months as president? He should resign."