Ron Johnson called Joe Biden dropping out of the race for president a 'coup.' Is that accurate?

On the opening night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, President Joe Biden officially passed the baton onto Vice President Kamala Harris as she makes a historic presidential run. 

A few months ago, the nation couldn’t have seen that coming. 

In July, Biden announced he would drop out of the presidential race, bowing to pressure from others in the party who worried about his age and ability to beat former President Donald Trump, this year’s Republican nominee for the role, in the fall. 

Harris’ entry into the race gave Democrats a jolt of energy for an election that was once burdened by unenthusiasm. In Wisconsin, an Aug. 7 Marquette University Law School poll found the percentage of registered voters who said they were very enthusiastic about the fall election was 61%, up from 46% in June — a change largely driven by Democrats. 

The unprecedented switch-up has also had many Republicans crying foul. That includes U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. 

"They’re going to formally kick the president to the side of the road tonight. Their coup is complete," Johnson said Aug. 19 during a press conference from Trump’s Chicago hotel. "Their nominee will be somebody who didn’t get one vote in the primary." 

Other high-profile Republicans have also referred to Biden’s dropping out as a "coup." Although they may be using it as a figure of speech, it doesn’t meet the literal definition of the word. 

As Johnson is using the term, "coup" is short for the French phrase "coup d’etat," which refers to the overthrow of the government. 

Experts on the subject spoke with PolitiFact National at the end of July, as more Republicans began to use the term to describe Biden’s exit from the race. 

Scott Althaus, who directs the University of Illinois’ Cline Center for Advanced Social Research Coup D’etat Project, told PolitiFact that the project’s codebook has five criteria to meet the definition of a coup, including "irregular means." In other words, initiators of a coup have to use threats, use of coercion or force to remove someone from power. 

"Constitutionally legitimate leadership changes," including "resignations triggered by a loss of popular support," are regular removals, according to the codebook, not coup events. 

Erica De Bruin, associate government professor at Hamilton College and author of the book, "How to Prevent Coups d’Etat: Counterbalancing and Regime Survival," said that although Biden faced political pressures not to run, there was no threat of violence should he press on — a fundamental feature of coups. 

Matt Cleary, an assistant professor of political science at Syracuse University, agreed with De Bruin. 

"(Biden) was certainly pressured and persuaded — but by arguments, not at the point of a gun," he told PolitiFact National.

De Bruin also said Democrats did not seek to remove Biden from power outside the regular electoral process, but rather encouraged him to end his campaign for a second term. 

Cleary added that stealth, another common element of coups, wasn’t employed here, since the discussion about whether Biden should drop out played out in the public sphere for weeks. 

Although it’s fair to raise questions about what brought about Biden’s decision to exit the race, he said, calling it a coup "does not accurately reflect" what happened.

Johnson may or may not have been using a figure of speech when he called it a coup. But experts agree it was not one.