/ CBS Minnesota
What led to Biden dropping out of 2024 race
MINNEAPOLIS — Key progressive and member of "The Squad" Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Sunday after President Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
In a post on X, Omar thanked Mr. Biden for his work in the last three-and-a-half years as president.
"This was the president's decision to make and I'm grateful for his years of service to our country," Omar wrote. "I'm thrilled to support (Kamala Harris) as our Democratic nominee and remain committed to working alongside her to defeat Donald Trump in November."
Omar remained supportive of Mr. Biden as a handful of Democrats called for him to resign from the race in the aftermath of the debate last month.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, another member of The Squad, also endorsed Harris on X. Pressley had previously stated that Democrats were "losing the plot" in their attempts to oust Biden.
The other two founding members of The Squad, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have not made public statements about the president's decision to remove himself from the election.
On Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez went on Instagram Live to discuss her thoughts on whether Biden should exit the race, questioning the viability on replacing the president this late in the election cycle.
Tlaib, the only Palestinian member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has been a critic of Mr. Biden's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas and urged people to vote against him in Michigan's primary. Last fall, lawmakers voted to censure her for comments she made about the war. In response, Omar gave a speech in support of Tlaib and accused those voting in favor of her censure of turning a blind eye to the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.
The Squad is an informal group of progressive, left-wing Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives, initially composed of four women: Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib.
Riley Moser is a digital producer who covers breaking news and feature stories for CBS Minnesota. Riley started her career at CBS Minnesota in June 2022 and earned an honorable mention for sports writing from the Iowa College Media Association the same year.