Biden returns to DC ahead of primetime Oval Office address Wednesday
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is leaving his Delaware home where he has been self-isolating after contracting COVID and returning to the White House Tuesday.
According to the White House's official schedule, Biden will be leaving Rehoboth Beach at 12:30 p.m. and landing at the White House at 2:30 p.m.
His return to D.C. comes almost one week after it was announced that he tested positive for COVID and just two days after his historic announcement that he would be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
After he returns to Washington, Biden is expected to deliver a primetime address from the Oval Office at 8 p.m. Wednesday to discuss "what lies ahead" and how he’ll "finish the job for the American people."
It’s been a tumultuous few days for the administration and the road ahead isn't exactly clear yet.
Rachel Wiley said President Biden’s decision to leave the 2024 race has made her reconsider whether she will vote in November.
It’s interesting being a little bit younger person and feeling conflicted, like I don’t know if I even wanted to vote when it was Biden versus Trump," Wiley said. "Maybe with Kamala [Harris], it gives another option?"
Tamar Vartanian said the plan has always been to vote for a third party and Biden’s decision did not change that.
"I’m going to vote third party strictly because of what they’re doing in the Middle East and where our money is going and frankly, it’s against moral, ethical, and international law," Vartanian said.
RELATED: Biden to address nation Wednesday on decision to end reelection bid
Don Agbar said he has been following the past week’s developments closely as a voter.
"I feel like it’s making time go by faster with all that’s happening. I hope, I don’t know, the next election cycle is a lot duller. A lot more, I don’t know, regular," Agbar said. "I’m tired of living through world events."
While Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and many top Democrats have followed suit, she still has to receive an official nomination at the Democratic National Convention in August. But an AP survey indicates that she will have the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Donald Trump.
Kamala Harris secures enough Democratic delegates to become party’s presidential nominee: AP
Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for reelection.
However, convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice if they hold an "open" convention in August or if Democrats hold a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.
The party hasn't seen an open convention since 1968 when President Lyndon B. Johnson decided that he would not run again. Chaos broke out amid the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the recent assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. but Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the nomination that year.
Presidential predictor and U.S. election expert Allan Lichtman told FOX 5 he doesn't expect a similar result at this DNC, even if the party does elect to have an open convention.
"I don't expect a repeat of 1968," Lichtman said. "I think there will be some protests, but I don't expect there to be riotous battles between the protesters and the police like we saw in 1968 but I am reserving judgment."
Lichtman has correctly predicted the winner of nearly every presidential race since 1984 using his ‘13 Keys to the White House’ method. He says as Democrats navigate the current political landscape, their best bet is to "get smart and unite."
"With Biden dropping out, they [Democrats] lose one more key: the incumbency key," Lichtman said. "But they can still preserve another key: the contest key if, finally, the Democrats get smart and unite behind Kamala Harris as the consensus nominee, they keep that key in line."