President Joe Biden announced Sunday in a tweet that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
Since his June debate performance against former President Donald Trump where he stumbled through answers and looked confused, the 81-year-old faced calls from allies within his party to drop out. Touting his achievements throughout his presidency, Biden told Americans Sunday that he believed it was best for his party and country to drop out of the race and focus on the rest of his term. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Biden News Prompts Prominent Republicans At RNC To Wargame The Kamala Scenario)
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in a twitter statement.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
The president wrote that he will later address the nation about his decision. He is currently in Delaware after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Biden made clear his support for Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 race, thanking her for serving alongside him.
“For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me,” Biden wrote.
In a separate tweet, Biden said choosing Harris as his vice president was the best decision when he chose to run in 2020, and he endorsed her to replace him atop the Democratic ticket.
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
Throughout his presidency, and most prominently following his debate performance, Biden faced concerns about his fitness for office. In an attempt to hide the affects of his age, aides escorted the president to and from Marine One from the South Lawn, he wore sneakers rather than dress shoes and took shorter stairs up Air Force One. Most recently, it was revealed that a neurologist and Parkinson’s disease specialist visited the White House several times in recent months.
Now the Democratic Party is left without a nominee with weeks until its convention. Some Democrats have argued a seamless transition to Harris gives the party the best chance to defeat Trump, while others have made the case for some sort of rushed primary or open convention. Other names have been floated as possible nominees including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
While the growing number of Democrats calling for Biden to drop out increased in the weeks following the debate, the president managed to buy his campaign some time with a decent showing at a NATO press conference. But the final straws appeared to be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Senate Leader Chuck Schumer turning. Pelosi confronted Biden in private about his declining poll numbers and chance at beating Trump, according to CNN. Schumer, alongside Jeffries, told the president behind closed doors that his decision to stay in the race could cost Democrats down-ballot races, according to the Washington Post.
Trump responded to the news of Biden dropping out with a post on Truth Social, stating that Biden was “not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve” and “never was.”
Biden’s announcement was made 107 days ahead of Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day. The president informed most of his staff just one minute before the post was made to social media and the world, according to The New York Times.
This story is breaking and will be updated with further developments.
