Trump and his supporters are slamming Biden for quitting the race and endorsing VP Kamala Harris instead, calling it a "coup" and demanding refunds.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In the wake of President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the Democratic Party's 2024 race, it sure looks like MAGA world will be very sad to see him go.
Biden decided on Sunday to reject his party's presidential nomination, and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris for the top ticket instead.
His announcement sparked angry outbursts from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, some of whom called the sudden switch in candidates a "coup."
"So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race," Trump wrote on his Truth Social. "Now we have to start all over again."
Trump added that he thought the GOP should be "reimbursed for fraud."
Conservative blogger and Elon Musk friend Ian Miles Cheong reposted a screenshot of Trump's post, saying: "his campaign was forced to waste money against Biden for as long as it did only for the Democrats to pull the rug out from under him by pulling Joe out of the race."
Trump raises an excellent point: his campaign was forced to waste money against Biden for as long as it did only for the Democrats to pull the rug out from under him by pulling Joe out of the race. This, if anything, is a form of cheating. pic.twitter.com/vW1nzxSagW
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 21, 2024
Madison Cawthorn, who used to be a North Carolina congressman, echoed Trump's demand of a refund from the Biden-Harris campaign.
"Someone sue the Bidden Harris campaign for a refund and request a preliminary injunction," Cawthorn wrote on X.
"That campaign should not be allowed to spend a dollar on Kamala's behalf until this is fully litigated," he added.
Trump's former senior advisor Steven Miller also went on Fox News, and raged about how the Republican party had "spent tens of millions of dollars running against Joe Biden."
"Now they just woke up one morning and said 'never mind, we're cancelling the entire primary, we're getting rid of our candidate,'" he added.
Stephen Miller is melting down on Fox tonight. pic.twitter.com/o22R1IihJ3
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 22, 2024
With Biden stepping down, Trump is now the oldest person from the two major parties to ever run for president. And to be sure, Trump's camp may well be incensed because they've spent months — and a considerable amount of airtime at the RNC — hammering Biden for his advanced age — an argument they can no longer use with Harris, who's 59.
However, Biden stepping down likely wasn't a complete surprise for the GOP. The Trump camp had anti-Harris attack ads at the ready, which they released within an hour of Biden backing out.
Signs that the GOP has been prepping for Harris versus Trump showdown have also been there for weeks.
Following Biden's disastrous CNN debate performance in June, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social account on July 3, discussing the possibility of running against Harris rather than Biden.
"I got him out the race, and that means we have Kamala," Trump said in the clip.
Trump was also already trialing nasty nicknames for Harris long before Biden quit, including "Laffin' Kamala Harris" and "Cackling Copilot Kamala Harris."
And on Wednesday, the Trump-Vance campaign said that it would not agree to a vice presidential debate until Harris picked "her running mate."
Representatives for Harris and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
