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UPDATES: Georgia voters react to Biden dropping out of election
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Across the state, GPB reporters asked voters their thoughts and concerns with Biden stopping his bid for reelection. Stay tuned to GPB's blog here for more reactions!
Months ahead of the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden announced that he is dropping out of the race against former President Donald Trump.
President Biden shared a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, explaining that while he planned to seek reelection he believes it is best for the country and the Democratic Party if he steps down.
“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,” Biden wrote in his statement.
Shortly after he shared his announcement to step down, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party nominee.
GPB reporters have the latest news on voters' thoughts on the election following Biden's announcement.
GPB’s Sarah Kallis talks to Tucker Hills resident who was unsurprised
Martin Bale of Tucker Hills said Biden's exit was unsurprising to him.
"I kind of figured that that was going to happen,” he said. “He looked like he didn't have much chance of winning, especially since Trump survived the assassination attempt. Like a real G."
Bale said Biden dropping out does not affect his voting plans, but declined to say who he plans to vote for.
GPB's Sarah Kallis speaks to Stone Mountain resident
Lorenzo Moore of Stone Mountain said he was quote sad to see Biden exit the race.
“It kind of scared me in a in a way,” he said. “And I would think that, you know, he should have just threw it in there and stayed in it and, you know, fight for the people.”
Moore said that he will support Harris, but is not more enthusiastic about her than Biden.
GPB’s Sofi Gratas speaks to state senator and student in Macon
State Sen. David Lucas, who lives in Macon, said Biden's decision to leave the race doesn't change his plan to vote Democrat.
“President Trump has been part of the appealing to the innermost worst feeling of whites when it comes to people of color," he said outside the Bibb County Courthouse. "The violence escalated when Trump was president."
Lucas hopes the Democrats can unite around a Harris campaign and called her a "very articulate young lady," while calling Trump a "criminal."
A few blocks away, architecture student Danny Ferrer, 22, said he's prepared to support Harris at the ballot box, but that he wishes voters like him had more time and options.
Even then, he said he's heard lots more optimism from his friends around the election now that Biden has stepped down.
"There was no there was no really excitement about having him in someone that old," Ferrer said. "I mean, it doesn't feel like he could really complete four years. Having Kamala do it makes a lot more sense. It's just a lot more, for Democrats especially, to be excited for."
This will be Ferrer's second time voting in a presidential election. He said prior to Biden's decision he didn't feel like his vote would count. Now, that's changed.
"I feel like it's going to count again here," Ferrer said.
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GPB's Sarah Kallis in metro Atlanta
Tiffany Strickland, who lives in Lilburn, said she was happy to hear that Biden exited the race, but had concerns about Harris' political record.
"I wasn't impressed with it to begin with, so, I'm glad to hear it," Strickland said. "Hopefully we get a — a candidate that is, I guess, successful enough to be able to win the election. But I didn't want Biden for president."
GPB's Grant Blankenship speaks to a Macon voter who wonders why the wait
Janice Warnock of Macon said the change on the Democratic ticket won’t change her planned vote for Trump but she wonders why it took Biden so long to make room for Kamala Harris.
"I think she'll get more votes, and I think that's why they decided to get her," Warnock said. "Either they had plans all along or they sure weren't very bright when it came to being aware of of his situation. And that makes them look bad to me."
Johnny Marsh of Macon said replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket is the right thing to do.
"President Biden is a little bit elderly, you know, and, I think it brings a lot more energy and invigoration to the Democratic party," Marsh said. "And they're going to beat Trump."
GPB’s Ellen Eldridge talks to voters in Woodstock who are mostly supporters of President Trump
Rial Patel is a 42-year-old gas station attendant who calls himself a die-hard President Trump fan.
“Trump is the best since Day 1,” he said Monday outside the Outlet Shoppes in Woodstock.
Cherokee County historically votes Republican and about 70% of voters cast ballots for Trump.
That holds true for Summer Kappy as well.
The 25-year-old server says her biggest concern is immigration and wants the border closed.
She wants Biden out of office.
“I’m so happy that [he's] dropping out,” she said. “I’m so happy.”
On if she had any opinion about who should replace Biden on the ticket, Kappy says no about Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Not Kamala," she said. "No. No, I don't like Democrats. I don't like Democrats. Give up."
Megan is a 49-year-old preschool teacher from Cobb County who considers herself Republican.
She is glad Biden won’t seek reelection because of his age. But she hasn’t made up her mind about who she might vote for.
“Oh, I'll definitely vote,” she said. “I just want to wait and see how it plays out. Who's our other choice? Yeah, since we don't know now, so. Yeah.”
Danny Rogers is a retired 68-year-old who jokes about being a professional bass fisherman. But he never misses an election.
“You can’t complain if you don’t vote,” he says.
And he hasn’t voted for Biden.
“There is a God,” he said he thought when Biden announced he would not seek reelection.
“He shouldn't have ran the first time, you know,” he said. “I mean, yes, everybody known it. Everybody lied and they said, 'Oh, he's fit,' you know, and all this other stuff. He wasn't. I mean, it was plain, but…“
GPB's Grant Blankenship speaks to a Democratic voter in Macon about her concerns
Lori Powell of Macon says she is relieved Biden stepped down from the Democratic presidential ticket but that she still has some concerns heading into November.
"It doesn't seem like we have much time to really come up with a nominee," she said. "I don't really understand, like, how all that stuff works. Like, you know, he endorsed, you know, Kamala, but does that mean she get the nominee? I don't know, but I just know as a Democrat, I feel like we're in a better place."
GPB's Sofi Gratas talks to young voters at Mercer University in Macon
About an hour after hearing the news of Biden's decision to step out of the presidential race, under stormy skies, college graduates La'Nissa Rozier and Genesis Cooper were playing volleyball on Mercer University's campus in Macon.
Both said they plan to vote for whoever the Democrats put up as a candidate in November, but expressed some doubt in a strategy that includes Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Me personally, as a Black woman in America, at least not right now, against Donald Trump, I do not see them letting a Black woman take that seat," Rozier said.
Rozier recalled Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016.
"And she was white, and they wouldn't even let that happen," Rozier said.
But Cooper expressed "a little bit of faith" that voters could show up for Harris.
"I think that we can only hope that during her time in vice presidency that she's been prepared, and that this is this might be the turning point for our history," Cooper said.
This will be the second time both former students vote in a presidential election.
"Not voting is is not an option," Cooper said. "You know, as bad as we may think that the democracy is skewed or is tainted, we still have one."
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