On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

The shocking news of President Joe Biden abandoning his race for re-election led news outlets to scramble on a summer Sunday afternoon. It had been an intensely visual week of news in politics, from the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump to the four-day television show of the Republican national convention. This it was an old-fashioned way of making news. Biden announced his decision through a printed statement. It was dropped into his social media accounts before 2 p.m. Eastern time. It led to talk about a campaign by Vice President Kamala Harris before she even announced she was running.