President Joe Biden steps down from presidential race. Source: Joe Biden, X.
President Joe Biden has pulled out of the presidential 2024 US re-election and has instead thrown his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
After weeks of insisting he was staying in the race, Biden shocked the world with this unprecedented exit just four weeks before he was set to be confirmed as presidential candidate.
On Monday, Biden — who is currently isolated in a beach house in Delaware after testing positive for COVID — announced the news in a letter on social media.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he said.
“While it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
He said he would give more details about his decision in a public address later this week.
Biden thanked Vice President Harris in his letter and later endorsed her in another message on social media.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he said.
“Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Harris said she was “honoured to have the president’s endorsement”, and has every intention to “earn and win” the Democratic party’s nomination.
Biden made this decision following growing pressure from party leaders, organisers, and donors to step down after his disastrous performance in the June 27 presidential debate.
More than 35 Democrats members of Congress had publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
Polls have also shown that US voters are concerned that the 81-year old president is too “old” for the job, following several gaffes he and Trump have made earlier this year.
In a post on social media, Trump said Biden “was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!”
He also told CNN that he believed he would find it easier to defeat Harris if she became the Democratic nominee.
Barack Obama praised Biden as “a patriot of the highest order”.
“I know Joe has never backed down from a fight. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America,” Obama said.
Bill and Hillary Clinton, former president and secretary of state, also endorsed Harris in a statement: “We are honored to join the president in endorsing Vice-President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”
Biden’s withdrawal largely pushes the Democratic party in “uncharted waters”.
The party’s decision to accept Biden’s endorsement of Harris remains unclear.
The Democratic National Convention for the 2024 elections is scheduled to start on 19 August.
