South Florida Democrats reacted with praise for President Joe Biden as he announced Sunday he was ending his presidential campaign.
“His presidency really is a master class in character and courage,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. “There’s just never going to be another leader like Joe Biden in my lifetime.”
The view from the region’s Republicans was far different. Within minutes of Biden’s announcement, Republicans said his decision to stand down as a candidate shows he isn’t fit to remain as president and should resign immediately.
Wasserman Schultz — the senior Democrat in the Florida congressional delegation, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and decades-long believer in Biden — was emotional during a telephone interview Sunday shortly after Biden announced his decision not to run for reelection.
“I have a mix of sadness and pride in Joe Biden’s patriotism and valor and selflessness. He’s proven time and time again that he is the best that the United States of America has to offer,” she said. “He’s earned and deserves my support and the support of the American people.”
The development hit hard, Wasserman Schultz said, because “Joe Biden was easily one of the most accomplished presidents of our lifetime. He came from a working-class background, and was counted out and rose like a Phoenix time and time again. He earned the presidency through hard work and perseverance, and Joe Biden is pure goodness. I feel like I got kicked in the gut right now.”
Her support for Biden goes back to his first presidential campaign, in 1988, when she was a student at the University of Florida. She endorsed his 2020 presidential candidacy when many doubted he’d win the party’s nomination.
Republican demands
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who represents northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, and U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Miami-Dade County Republican, demanded that Biden immediately resign the presidency.
“If Joe Biden isn’t capable enough to seek re-election, he’s not capable enough to remain serving as our President,” Gimenez wrote on social media. “For the good of the country, @JoeBiden should step down and resign.”
Mast wrote that Biden is “Unfit to stand trial. Unfit to run. Unfit to be president for 1 more second.”
The trial comment is a reference to the report from a special counsel investigating classified documents that if charges were pressed a jury might see Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Mast and Gimenez are both strong supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Wasserman Schultz said people wouldn’t put any credence in their statements. Their demand that Biden immediately resign was “spoken by two people who support the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist to replace him for president. I certainly don’t think the American people will think much of their opinion.”
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Panhandle Republican, trolled the Democrats on social media by reposting a statement the party issued on the night of the night of the June 27 debate declaring Biden was “the winner of tonight’s debate.”
“Why did the winner just drop out?” Gaetz asked Sunday.
Democratic praise
Democrats were effusive in their praise.
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, said in a statement that Biden “is the greatest president of our lifetime. The nation is forever indebted and grateful for his years of service.” Jones is also a member of the Democratic National Committee and Biden campaign surrogate for 2024.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Biden has “been one of the greatest presidents in American history.”
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, said, ““He is a patriot! And one of the most successful public servants in American History. His record of service may never be seen again,” Moskowitz wrote in a social media post. He added that Biden “will be remembered as a selfless guardian of democracy.”
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat whose Palm Beach County district includes Trump’s home at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, said in a statement that she was “tremendously thankful for all President Biden has done and continues to do so for our country and the world. His decency and patriotism have been a mark of his extraordinary service.”
State. Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who represents northwest Broward, said on social media that Biden “has been an exceptional President who never forgot where he came from and always put the American people first in all of his decisions. He has been one of the most compassionate and effective presidents in our history.”
Hunschofsky was elected by her colleagues to become Democratic leader of the Florida House of Representatives after the 2026 elections.
Going forward
The Democrats have been in turmoil since Biden’s disastrous performance at a late-June debate with Trump, with a growing list of elected officials, donors and political pundits calling on Biden to bow out of the race.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a South Broward/Miami-Dade County Democrat, said she supports Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden to take his place, becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris has been “an extraordinary vice president,” Wilson said in a social media post.
“She is tested, ready and I’m proud to stand with our next President of the United States,” Wilson wrote. She endorsed Harris for the 2020 presidential nomination; after Harris withdrew, Wilson endorsed Biden.
Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz said they, too, were endorsing Harris. So did Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, of Broward. Hunschofsky said she would be “working hard” to elect Harris as president and Jones said Harris has his “full support.”
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat praised Biden’s patriotism, record “and incredible contribution to our nation over the last 50 years of service.”
Unlike their three South Florida Democratic congressional colleagues, Frankel and Cherfilus-McCormick did not immediately endorse Harris. “The time to discuss process and what’s next, will come,” Cherfilus-McCormick wrote.
Jayden D’Onofrio, chair of Florida Future Leaders, a group that formed this year to register and mobilize younger voters said in a statement that “youth voters will turnout en masse for Kamala Harris to be our first woman president.”
Wasserman Schultz said the Democrats, led by Harris, could recover and win in November.
“We need to coalesce quickly around Vice President Harris as our party’s nominee. This should be a smooth transition because she’s obviously already part of the ticket. We have an opportunity to come together around her to continue leading and moving forward and advancing the president’s legacy, an incredible record,” and, she said, ensure Trump doesn’t again become president.
State Sen. Tina Polsky, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, posted that her phone has been “blowing up with volunteer requests, donation notifications and enthusiasm for our future” led by Harris.
Gimenez expressed skepticism about Harris in another social media post. “Kamala Harris’ approval rating is 38%. Let that sink in,” he wrote.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was critical of Harris in a social media post.
“Kamala Harris was complicit in a massive coverup to hide and deny the fact that Joe Biden was not capable of discharging the duties of the office. She also was the the border czar during the worst border crisis in American history,” DeSantis said. “Democrats are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
Senate candidates
Gimenez and Mast were soon joined by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla..
“Let me be clear, if Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign today,” Scott said in a statement.
Scott, who has supported Trump since his 2016 campaign for president asserted that Harris and others have known since Biden took office that “he was not fit to be president and lied to the American people in an effort to hold onto their power…. Over those four years, we have seen immense damage done to our country.”
Scott said the “Democrats’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. The same people who spent years saying President Trump and Republicans are a threat to democracy, just pushed out the sitting president from running for re-election because they don’t think he can win.”
Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat seeking her party’s nomination to challenge Scott in November, said in a statement that because of Biden’s and Harris’s leadership “America has never been stronger.”
“President Biden has defined what it means to be a patriot and dedicated public servant,” Mucarsel-Powell said, adding that he is “putting the good of the American people and our democracy first.”
Mucarsel-Powell said Democrats “must follow his example and stand united behind” Harris.
Scott responded said Mucarsel-Powell’s endorsement shows she is “fighting to bring California socialism to Florida.” Mucarsel-Powell responded by declaring that Scott “is a fraud who lies any chance he gets.”
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.
