President Joe Biden on Sunday Drop out of school of 2024 presidential race and endorse the Vice President Kamala Harris As the Democratic nominee, he has been under growing pressure from his own party members for weeks to abandon his re-election bid against the former President Donald Trump.
“Serving as your president has been the greatest honor of my life,” Biden wrote in a post on the social media site X.
“While I intend to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country that I resign and focus on my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.
“I will detail my decision to the nation later this week,” Biden wrote. Biden’s move comes as public calls from congressional Democrats for him to step down for another nominee have increased sharply in recent days. An explosive decision ensued.
Biden wrote in a subsequent tweet that his “first decision as the 2020 party nominee will be to choose Kamala Harris as my Vice President.”
“This is the best decision I have ever made. Today, I want to express my full support and endorsement of Kamala as our party’s nominee this year. Democrats – it’s time to come together and defeat Trump,” Biden wrote .
“Let’s get to work.”
“I am honored to have the president’s support and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement.
“We are honored to join the President in supporting Vice President Harris and will do all we can to support her,” former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement from the Democratic power couple.
Biden had been isolating at his beach house in Rehoboth, Delaware, after being diagnosed with Covid-19, and Harris spoke before announcing she was withdrawing from the race on Sunday.
NBC News reported that Biden told his senior campaign staff at 1:45 pm ET on Sunday that he had changed his mind about continuing to run.
During a conference call with campaign staff on Sunday night, Biden campaign co-chair Jen O’Malley Dillon called on staff to rally behind the new candidate, three people familiar with the matter told NBC. said their jobs would be safely transferred to the Harris campaign.
She also acknowledged the emotional weight of the moment: “It’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to be unsure, but also to be optimistic about the path we’re going forward.”
“He should never have been there in the first place,” Trump said of Biden’s decision in a phone interview with NBC News.
“He should stay in the basement,” said Trump, who was formally nominated as the Republican nominee last week, days after narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt at a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“In the coming days, the party will pursue a transparent and orderly process as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” DNC Jamie Harrison said in a statement. People move forward together.
“This process will be governed by the party’s established rules and procedures. Our representatives are prepared to take their responsibilities seriously and quickly deliver candidates to the American people,” Harrison said.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the United States, on July 18, 2024.
Kevin Mohart | Reuters
Biden’s move echoes the decision of another Democratic incumbent, Lyndon Johnson, to drop out of the 1968 election as he faced the turmoil of the Vietnam War, low approval ratings and the election of Senator Eugene McCarthy. Surprisingly strong showing in New Hampshire primary.
Biden’s campaign has insisted for weeks that he will remain in the race, even as concerns have grown since his disastrous debate with Trump in late June that he is too old and frail to compete with Trump. The former president would not be able to serve a full second term if re-elected.
As of Sunday, nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress had urged Biden to withdraw. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who recently switched from a Democrat to an independent, said publicly earlier Sunday that Biden should drop out of the race.
US President Biden attends a NATO event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s founding in Washington, the United States, on July 9, 2024.
Yves Herman | Reuters
“President Joe Biden is a patriotic American who always puts our country first,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has served as House speaker, tweeted on Sunday.
“His legacy of vision, values and leadership made him one of the most influential presidents in American history,” Pelosi wrote. “With love and gratitude, President Biden remains committed to America’s promise, meant and provide people with the opportunity to achieve their dreams God blessed America with the greatness and goodness of Joe Biden.
With less than four months until Election Day, Biden decided to drop the punch, kicking off the presidential campaign.
It also creates extraordinary problems and challenges for Democrats, who must now scramble to raise a new presidential candidate.
The next candidate will need to compete with Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance for the Republican vote, win over donors, representatives and other allies loyal to the current president while convincing voters they are worthy of the nation’s highest office.
Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden began to lose support from his party and allies after his June 27 debate with Trump.
Although Biden is only three years older than Trump, he looked and sounded noticeably worse on the debate stage. His posture is stiff, his eyes are sometimes blank, and his answers are often hoarse, unclear, and ineffective.
In both substance and appearance, Biden stands in stark contrast to Trump, who looks and sounds much like he has in recent years.
The debate immediately sparked a crisis within the Democratic Party. Even before the meeting ended, party operatives began to doubt Biden’s ability to effectively campaign against Trump.
High-profile Democratic donors and supporters have publicly urged Biden to withdraw, with some vowing to quit Withhold campaign contributions at the same time.
Biden and his aides spent weeks trying to stem the bleeding.
In his first interview after the debate, Biden said he was convinced he was the best person to take on Trump, adding that he could only be persuaded to step down “if God Almighty came out and told me that.”
But his determined stance failed to quell intra-party riotsBiden said there are other ways to push him to withdraw.
In an interview with BET that aired during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Biden said that “if I had some thoughts, he might reconsider his decision to stay in the race.” emerging medical condition”.
On the same day the interview aired, Biden Tested positive for coronavirus. He canceled a scheduled appearance in Las Vegas and returned to his beach house in Delaware.
Biden is already the oldest person ever to serve in the White House.
He was 86 years old at the end of his second term. He has weathering problem Regarding his physical and mental health, even during the 2020 run.
Those concerns, which have intensified in the 2024 cycle, have been vigorously combated by the Biden campaign and White House aides, while the president’s relative lack of press conferences and interviews may have obscured scrutiny of his acumen.
