Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy, hosts of the syndicated iHeartRadio morning show “The Breakfast Club,” broke down what happens now that “[President Joe] Biden decided he was going to tap out.” They welcomed guest Angela Rye, political commentator and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, to answer their burning questions Monday.
Reacting to Biden dropping out of the presidential race after much speculation since his disastrous debate performance, Charlamagne exclaimed, “Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally.”
The president shared a letter via social media Sunday announcing his decision, but while he did not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris to take his spot immediately, he did so in a subsequent post a half hour later.
Rye took issue with Biden’s lack of an immediate endorsement and shared her outrage with her 1.5 million Instagram followers shortly after the announcement.
“That’s unacceptable to me,” Rye said on the radio show Monday. “So I went off. I was like, what are you doing? What are you talking about, friend? Because we are going to have some real problems if you don’t throw your support behind a person who has stood lockstep with you in moments when she shouldn’t have.”
“And then three minutes later,” Charlamagne joked with the commentator, acknowledging that the president expressed his support of Harris just moments later.
Rye pushed back, asking, “Why wasn’t it in the initial letter? I think it was bad strategy.”
Political commentators on Sunday noted that they believed Biden was looking to make the resignation moment about his presidency, while also giving Harris her own moment with the subsequent endorsement.
The hosts fielded listener questions live with many asking who Harris will choose as her own vice presidential pick.
Charlamagne was interested in Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona as a potential choice because “he looks MAGA white,” but Rye said she thought he was “kind of boring.”
All three hosts agreed that a governor choice would be beneficial for the campaign, citing Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania. Rye said that Pennsylvania is certainly a battleground state this election, so his influence would be invaluable. She also said that she does not foresee an all-women ticket this year.
Trump has called for Fox News to host the next debate, but the iHeartRadio hosts aren’t convinced that we’ll get to see a Harris-Trump matchup.
“I guarantee you won’t see Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate,” Charlamagne said. “I guarantee you Donald Trump will not take that stage with Kamala Harris.”
“He’s not going to do it,” DJ Envy agreed.
Rye was surprised, saying that this is the showdown we need to see. As the politics segment of the show concluded, Rye said she hopes Democrats will rally behind the vice president.
“That’s my plea to everyone, is to really try to give her a fair shot. I’m excited about her opportunity. I’m excited about who she picks as her running mate, and I can tell you I haven’t felt this way since 2020 when she joined the ticket,” Rye said.
You can watch the full video of the segment in the video above.
