Former South Carolina state lawmaker and CNN analyst Bakari Sellers said Democrat voters are "pissed off" by President Biden's decision to withdraw from the race, blaming party leadership for pressuring him into suspending his campaign.
In an interview on "CNN Newsroom" Sunday, Sellers said his phone has been "blowing up" with concerned Democrats fearful that Kamala Harris will be "pushed" off the ticket as they believe Biden was following his announcement that he is ending his re-election bid.
"My phone is blowing up with people who are pissed off and the reason they‘re pissed off, is because they feel like people from on high pushed Joe Biden out the door," he said.
BIDEN ENDS BID FOR SECOND TERM IN WHITE HOUSE AS HE DROPS OUT OF HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH TRUMP
"A text that I just got from a friend was like, ‘if they pushed Joe Biden out the door. what are they going to do with Kamala Harris?' They will probably try to push her too. There‘s a great deal of fear out there and the people who‘ve done the damage, the Nancy Pelosis, the Chuck Schumers those ’elders' in leadership. It would behoove us all if they came out and wrap their arms around Kamala Harris sooner rather than later."
He added, "And probably save those celebratory mimosas for another day…"
BIDEN ENDORSES KAMALA AFTER BOWING OUT OF 2024 RACE
Biden's announcement comes as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers had begun to publicly urge him to step aside. The party's leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November's general election against former President Trump.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer reportedly told Biden in a "blunt one-on-one conversation" last week it would be best if he "bowed out of the race," according to an ABC report on X.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly told President Biden in a phone call that polls are showing he cannot defeat former President Trump in November and that him staying in the race could destroy Democrats’ chances of taking the House in November.
Biden offered his "full support and endorsement" for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over as the party's presidential nominee. The president's endorsement is likely to dissuade any serious completion from other Democrats who may have mulled a bid for the presidential nomination and could clear a path for the vice president to succeed Biden as the party's nominee.
Following the news, Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, "Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader, but he is a truly amazing human being. His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first."
The Trump campaign quickly started fundraising off the blockbuster announcement. Within 440 minutes of the president's announcement, the Trump campaign put out a fundraising post on X with the subject line, "Biden just suspended his campaign."
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
