After the withdrawal of the US President These four candidates could now succeed Joe Biden

Joe Biden is dropping out of the race for US President. blue News shows who could possibly take over his candidacy.

The Democrats' support for incumbent Joe Biden as candidate for the presidential election in November is crumbling more and more. The 81-year-old, who is now also suffering from coronavirus, is still confident of victory, but according to media reports, more and more people close to him are saying that he is considering withdrawing.

blue News shows you which candidates are possible replacements for Biden.

Kamala Harris seems to be the obvious choice when it comes to an alternative to Biden: as Vice President, the 59-year-old would automatically take over the duties of the head of state in the event of his death. In her most recent speech in the embattled state of North Carolina, she conspicuously refrained from commenting on Biden's possible withdrawal. Instead, she called the contrast between him and Trump "like night and day"; she described the election in November as the "most consequential and important election of our lifetime".

The daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother is a pioneer: she was the first woman to hold the office of Vice President, and no incumbent before Harris was black. A few years earlier, the lawyer was the first woman and first black woman to become Attorney General of her home state of California.

As a prosecutor, Harris has earned a reputation for being tough - something she could use to her advantage in the election campaign, which is likely to center on immigration and crime. However, some Democrats have also criticized her harsh sentences for underage offenders, saying they disproportionately affect members of minority groups.

However, there is no rule that a vice presidential candidate is also the designated successor as presidential candidate if the actual candidate withdraws. The former Senator Harris has only a pitiful approval rating, which is why the Democrats could look for another option if the worst comes to the worst.

The name of the Governor of California keeps cropping up in discussions about a possible successor to Biden. The 56-year-old was once mayor of San Francisco and has governed the most populous state in the USA for five years. Among other things, he has made California a haven for those seeking an abortion. So far, Newsom has always backed Biden - but at the same time he has never made a secret of his own presidential ambitions.

In recent months, Newsom has traveled internationally, placed several advertisements touting his services and invested millions in a committee supporting his campaign. This has fueled speculation that he intends to run for the US presidency in 2028 - so why not 2024?

Michigan is one of the so-called swing states in which neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can count on a clear victory and which will ultimately be decisive for the outcome of the presidential election on November 5. For the supporters of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, this is a strong argument in favor of her candidacy.

The 52-year-old is a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump. She is known for having been the target of a planned kidnapping by a right-wing militia. Her state is home to many black and Arab-American voters as well as many working-class voters - population groups that Biden has struggled to woo so far.

Whitmer herself firmly rejected talk of a candidacy, at least at the beginning of July, and declared her 100 percent support for Biden. He is "in it to win it, and I support him".

As governor of Pennsylvania, the 51-year-old Shapiro governs the largest of the so-called swing states. Before taking office as governor at the beginning of 2023, Shapiro was twice elected Attorney General in the state. In this office, he took action against Purdue Pharma, the producer of the highly addictive painkiller Oxycontin. Shapiro is a forceful speaker and an avowed centrist - both qualities could lead him to seek office at national level.

In addition to those mentioned, the names of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, his counterpart in Maryland, Wes Moore, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear are circulating. However, the chances of the three governors do not seem particularly good. The names of Senator Amy Klobuchar and US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have also been mentioned in the discussion about a possible successor.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama, who is a shining light for many Democrats, is also repeatedly mentioned. However, she has consistently emphasized in the past that she is not a political person and has absolutely no interest in the presidency.

With material from AFP