Critics claim Biden remains president 'in name only’ despite DNC vow to finish next 5 months of term strong

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Biden makes joke about Harris as president, stresses he has 'a lot to do' in remaining 5 months in office

President Biden at the Democratic National Convention on Monday said he would finish the remaining five months of his term.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, claimed Monday that President Biden at this point is "basically president in name only." 

"Tonight, we are going to hear from President Joe Biden, who at this point is basically president in name only," Shanahan said in a video shared to X. 

"You know, no matter what your opinion is of Joe Biden, if you love him or if you hate him or don’t really care, you have to realize that something feels very wrong about how the Democratic Party ran a full core pressure campaign to get him out of office after he won 14-15 million votes in the primaries," she said. 

"Isn’t it strange how he bowed out because he didn’t feel like he could serve another four years, but somehow he’s OK to serve four more months as we face historic inflation, debt and war? Any impartial observer can look at that and realize the DNC machine did what they always do. They pushed someone out they couldn’t successfully puppeteer," Shanahan said. "So much for defending democracy." 

At the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, Biden said he had "a lot to do" in the remaining five months of his presidential term. 

Comparing himself to Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden said, "Like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president. That's a joke…" 

BIDEN SPEECH DELAYED UNTIL AFTER PRIMETIME

Biden appeared to be referencing how he served as former President Barack Obama's vice president.

"But she'll be a president our children could look up to," Biden continued. "She'll be a president respected by world leaders because she already is. She'll be a president we can all be proud of. And she will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America's future. This will be the first presidential election since January 6th." 

 "Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became, when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career," Biden said. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden at the Democratic National Convention on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

X users on Monday questioned whether Biden is truly in charge. 

"Are we just forgetting that Joe Biden is still in office?" wrote Jerry Wayne, a Michigan autoworker who went viral for confronting Biden about gun control on the 2020 campaign trail.

"Joe Biden is still the President for 154 more days. Pray for America," Fox News contributor and former Trump campaign operative Steve Cortes wrote on X. 

At the DNC, Biden stressed that his term is not over. "Folks, I've got five months left in my presidency. I've got a lot to do. I intend to get it done," Biden said. 

Regardless of the outcome of the election in November, a new president would not, under traditional circumstances, be inaugurated until Jan. 20, 2025. As of Tuesday, that means Biden has 153 days left of his four-year term. The 25th Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president automatically becomes president.

After Biden's disastrous debate performance against Republican nominee and former President Trump in June, Democratic lawmakers and donors pressured the 81-year-old president to step aside from the race amid concern his age and mental fitness would destroy the party's chances of holding onto the White House and Senate, as well as reclaiming the House in November. 

President Biden speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In a clip shared by RNC Research, Biden stood at the podium during a stage test earlier Monday afternoon at the United Center while reporters shouted questions. 

One reporter asked, "Donald Trump claims that you were pushed out, put from the top of the ticket, and this amounts to a coup from your party. What do you make of these claims?" 

Biden started to answer, but his response was quiet and barely audible, so the reporter pressed, "his what?" The president then went silent, waved her off and other reporters began asking different questions. 

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Biden ended his re-election campaign on July 21 and immediately endorsed Harris' presidential candidacy. Harris secured enough delegates to become the presidential nominee on Aug. 1 during a virtual roll call conducted by the Democratic National Committee two weeks before the start of the party’s convention at the United Center in Chicago. The RNC, by contrast, did their roll call in person in Milwaukee. 

In his DNC speech Monday night, Biden insisted there was no bad blood and that he made the decision to back out of the race for the good of the country. 

"It's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more. I love my country more. Now, all this talk about how I'm angry. All those people said I should step down. That's not true. I love my country more," Biden said. "And we need to preserve our democracy in 2024. We need you to vote, I need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump." 

President Biden participates in stage testing ahead of the start of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Harris isn't expected to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination until Thursday. But Biden left the DNC immediately after what some mainstream media billed his "farewell address" Monday night. 

The speech concluded in the dead of night, and the president and first lady Jill Biden touched down in California early Tuesday morning. 

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Listing priorities for the remainder of his presidency, Biden told the DNC that he would continue working with Harris to bring all Americans wrongfully detained around the world home. 

Biden said Monday night that his administration, namely Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is "working around the clock" to prevent a wider war in the Middle East, bring back the remaining hostages held by Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza to "end the civilian suffering of the Palestinian people" and "finally deliver a cease-fire and end this war."