What happens now that Joe Biden is out of the race?

President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race - so what exactly happens next?

The 81-year-old Democrat announced the news following pressure in recent weeks - including from members of his own party - to quit with concerns over his ability to govern due to his disastrous performance in the first election debate against Trump on 27 June.

Plus, there were a series of gaffes from Biden lately which included when he mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” and in another instance he referred to vice-president Kamala Harris as Donald Trump.

In his statement, Biden said: "I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

It's a historic moment as this makes Biden the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson dropped out of a US presidential race in 1968.

Now Biden has stepped down from the race, the question is which Democrat will be at the top of the ticket come election day on November 5?

The process of selecting a new nominee will be discussed among the Democratic National Convention’s rules committee on Wednesday (July 23), as per The Washington Post.

Formal nominations must be made by the 4,700 party delegates in a roll call who will vote for who they believe can take on Trump - this will take place either via a virtual vote or an "open" convention.

The Democrat Party Convention is set to take place from 19-22 August in Chicago.

The former option would see a new nominee confirmed by early August.

But the current frontrunner is vice-president Kamala Harris who has already secured enough delegates to earn the Democratic Party's nomination - 2,214 delegates, according to an Associated Press tally.

That's more than the 1,986 delegates required for a candidate to win the Democrat nomination.

In a statement on Tuesday (July 23), she said: "Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party's nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state's delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon."

Biden has already endorsed Harris, who has served as his VP in the last four years of his administration, taking to X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: "My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.

"Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this."

All 50 Democratic party state chairs have also come out to support Harris as the party's new presidential nominee, as per Reuters.

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