World
President Biden Withdraws from Re-Election Race, Endorses Kamala Harris
In a surprising political move, President Biden announces his withdrawal from the 2024 re-election race, paving the way for Vice President Kamala Harris as his endorsed successor. Discover the implications of this historic decision.
President Biden Steps Aside
In a surprising turn of events, President Joe Biden announced yesterday that he would not seek re-election, yielding to mounting pressure from the Democratic Party in a strategic effort to prevent Donald Trump from reclaiming the presidency. This marks an unprecedented moment in U.S. political history, as no sitting president has withdrawn from a race so late in an election cycle.
Biden expressed his sentiments in a heartfelt letter shared on social media, stating, “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President.” He continued, “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.”
The President affirmed his commitment to serving out the remainder of his term and extended his support to Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsing her as the Democratic nominee for the upcoming election. He remarked, “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 decision I’ve made.” In a subsequent online post, he declared, “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
Shortly after Biden’s announcement, Harris officially declared her candidacy. “My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she stated in a press release. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
Biden’s decision to withdraw followed a challenging debate performance against Trump that heightened concerns regarding his age and electoral viability. Despite ongoing calls from various party members to step aside, Biden had maintained that his campaign was progressing well, even informing aides just days earlier that they were moving forward as planned. In a moment of swift communication, most of his staff learned of his decision at 1:45 p.m.—just one minute before he publicly announced it.