Biden's election dropout prompts responses from former presidents

July 21 (UPI) -- Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, have endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the race Sunday, leading responses from former presidents.

Biden ended his 2024 presidential bid after weeks of public scrutiny over his fitness for office and internal pressure from his own party, choosing to endorse his vice president as his pick on the Democratic ticket to succeed him.

"We are honored to join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her," the Clintons said in a statement posted by the former president on social media. "Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we've got to elect her. America's future depends on it."

The Clintons said that Biden capped an "extraordinary career of service" with a presidency that "rebuilt a battered economy, strengthened our democracy, and restored our standing in the world."

"By any measure, he has advanced our founders' charge to build a more perfect union and his own stated goal of restoring the soul of our nation," the Clintons said.

In contrast to that, the Clintons expressed worry about the state of America if former President Donald Trump were to win the election.

"We've lived through many ups and downs, but nothing has made us more worried for our country than the threat posed by a second Trump term," the Clintons said. "He has promised to be a dictator on day one, and the recent ruling by his servile Supreme Court will only embolden him to further shred the Constitution."

Former President Barack Obama, whom Biden served under as vice president, called his veep pick a "patriot of the highest order" as he likewise warned of another Trump presidency.

"More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood and division that had characterized Donald Trump's administration," Obama said.

Even though Biden "has never backed down from a fight," Obama said that "Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election" and how everything he has fought for throughout his life will be at risk if Trump is allowed back in the White House.

"I know he wouldn't make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It's a testament to Joe Biden's love of country -- and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow," Obama said.

"We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges."

The former president stopped short of endorsing Harris for the nomination.

Meanwhile, Trump celebrated the news of Biden's leaving the race, calling him the "worst president by far in the history of our nation" in a statement on his Truth Social platform.

"He was annihilated in an Earth-shattering debate, and now the corrupt and radical Democrats are throwing him overboard," Trump said.

"He was not fit to serve from the very beginning, but the people around him lied to America about his complete and total mental, physical, and cognitive demise. Whoever the left puts up now will just be more of the same."