Donald Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 election have decreased after President Joe Biden announced he is ending his re-election campaign, according to bookmakers.
With Biden under pressure to give up on reelection following Trump’s poor performance in the CNN debate in June, several UK and Ireland-based bookmakers on July 18 gave Trump a 71% chance of winning the November presidential election, according to OddsChecker.
Biden announced Sunday that it was “in the best interest of our party and our country” to not seek reelection and allow a new Democratic candidate to face Trump in November. Biden also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.
As of Monday, several bookmakers were suggesting Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 election had dropped to 66%, while others said it was only slightly lower, at 69%.
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Meanwhile, Harris, who has been endorsed by Biden and is now the favorite to win the party’s nomination in 2024, is seen with a 33% chance of winning the election, though that could rise if it becomes clearer that she will face Trump in November.
Harris confirmed that she will run as the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden ends his campaign.
“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party and unite the country to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” Harris said.
Even before his stumbling performance at the June 27 debate, there had long been concern about whether Biden, 81, had the physical and cognitive ability to run for a second term as president.
With Biden ending his 2024 presidential bid, Trump, at 78, became the oldest presidential candidate in U.S. history. If Harris is confirmed as the Democratic nominee in 2024, she will be 60 at the time of the November election, 18 years younger than her Republican rival.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after a hush-money trial, making him the first president in history to be convicted of a crime, and he is seeking a second term in the White House.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the election was “not over” and mocked Biden’s cognitive abilities.
“Tomorrow, evil Joe Biden will wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today,” Trump said.
Donald Trump’s office was reached via email seeking further comment.
Many prominent Democrats who were considered potential successors to Biden, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have endorsed Harris since Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
There have also been reports of a surge in public donations to Democrats since Biden announced he was ending his campaign after weeks of pressure.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
