A Kamala Harris-themed memecoin surged nearly 250% on Thursday amid increasing pressure for U.S. President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race following a lackluster debate against Donald Trump.
Kamala Horris (KAMA), a Solana token intentionally misspelled and featuring a crudely drawn cartoon of the U.S. vice president, saw its market cap rise from $3.5 million to nearly $11.9 million since the June 27 debate, according to Dex Screener. However, it has since declined from its peak market cap of $22.2 million on July 3.
Reuters reported on July 3 that Harris is the leading contender to replace Biden should he opt out of seeking reelection, based on insights from seven senior sources within the Biden campaign, White House, and Democratic National Committee.
Following the June 27 Biden-Trump debate, KAMA, a memecoin themed around Kamala Harris, surged, while BODEN, a similar memecoin for President Biden, plummeted. KAMA has gained nearly 250% recently, boosting its market cap, whereas BODEN has dropped by 22% in the last 24 hours and 73.4% over the past week, as reported by CoinGecko.
Political analysts have attributed these movements to Biden’s widely criticized debate performance, characterized by a raspy voice and moments of apparent confusion.
At 81, Biden, the oldest presidential candidate in history, attributed his debate performance to a cold, excessive preparation, and jet lag, despite being in the same time zone throughout the week leading up to the Atlanta-hosted debate.
Pressure increases as Biden’s poll numbers decline.
Pressure mounts on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race as voters, media outlets, and Democratic lawmakers express doubts about his ability to defeat Trump in the November 5 election. According to FiveThirtyEight polls, Trump holds a 2.3 percentage point lead.
A July 3 New York Times and Siena College poll also shows Trump in the lead, with three-quarters of voters expressing concerns that Biden is too old for the presidency—a five percentage point increase since the debate.
Following a July 2 CNN poll where three-quarters of U.S. voters indicated Democrats would have a better chance with a different candidate, a July 1 CBS News poll found nearly half of Democratic Party voters believe Biden should not be the nominee.
On the crypto prediction platform Polymarket, gamblers have increased Biden’s odds of dropping out to 64%, up from 19% before the debate.
Meanwhile, at least four House Democrats told Axios on July 3 that Biden should step down, with one noting a “very large majority of the caucus” shares this sentiment.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking on MSNBC, remarked that it is “completely legitimate” to question whether Biden’s debate performance is a “condition” or simply “an episode.”
On Wednesday, July 3, the Boston Globe editorial board joined The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in urging Biden to resign and allow another candidate the opportunity to challenge Trump.
Biden won’t back down
According to reports from The Washington Post and The New York Times, sources close to Biden indicate he has acknowledged that failing to demonstrate his fitness for office could jeopardize his candidacy. Despite mounting pressure, Biden affirmed his determination in a July 3 Zoom call with campaign staff, as reported by Politico.
“Let me be perfectly clear: I am running,” Biden asserted. “No one is urging me to step aside. I am committed to staying in this race until the end.”