JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – People in Jacksonville gave differing opinions after President Joe Biden announced that he ended his reelection bid.
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Some people said they were happy, others said they didn’t know how to feel.
More said they remembered where they were and what they were doing when they found out about his announcement.
A woman said she was in church during the praise and worship section when that notification came across her phone.
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She said it made her pray harder.
“We just need to pray more,” Catrena said. “That’s all I can really say about it because it’s just the way of the world. It’s really about our children now. So we just need to pray and we need to vote.”
Catrena talked about characteristics that a candidate should have.
“Have some Christian values,” Catrena said. “That they’re really able to care for the people and listen to the people and do things for the people.”
Others said they felt differently.
“I kind of figured it was going to happen but I didn’t know he was going to drop out so soon,” Shamika Miley said.
Nick Holterman felt similar to Miley. He said he was in favor of Biden running for reelection, but that recently changed.
“I think I never really paid too much attention to when people said he was too old, I mean they were saying that in 2020, he seemed fine to me back then,” Holterman said. “Watching his debate performance in 2024 that’s not the same man from four years ago.”
Peter Scaffetti said he agreed with Biden’s decision, but he wasn’t expecting it.
“It definitely felt like just another incident of something coming up that was shocking in the U.S. in general,” Scaffetti said.
Recently, 1,400 Black women signed a letter of support for Biden’s presidential reelection while speaking out about the lack of unity in the party.
One of those signatures was Nassau County resident Johnnetta Betsch Cole.
She was a recipient of the National Humanities Medal for 2021 and is known for her work with HBCUs.
“I, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, signed that letter in a spirit of deep belief and trust in President Biden to make the right decisions,” Cole said. “He has now withdrawn from the top of that ticket and I support what must’ve been a very difficult decision.”