Michigan and Wisconsin party members are hopeful as some Trump voters also approve of the president’s decision

For many Democratic swing state voters, Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election came as a relief.

“Oh thank God,” said Cathy Gramze, a retired nurse who lives in the suburbs of Detroit. “My diagnosis has for a long time been that he cannot run again and I am not entirely sure that he should finish his term in office.”

Gramze had worried about Biden’s fitness long before the debate. His 27 June performance merely confirmed what she had long feared. “A lot of the time he is the president we need, but some of the time he isn’t.”

Kamala Harris, who Biden endorsed Sunday and who has earned the endorsement of most prominent Democratic elected officials, “needs to be the presidential nominee”, Gramze said.