WASHINGTON: U.S. President Joe Biden has ended his re-election campaign after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory.
Pressure from within the Democratic Party and among loyal voters was evident when President Biden performed poorly in his debate with former President Trump.
In a post on X, Biden stated that he will remain in his role as President and Commander-in-Chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And 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,” Biden wrote.
By dropping his re-election bid, he clears the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket, making her the first Black woman to do so in the country’s history.
Biden, 81, did not mention her when he announced his decision.
However, later, in a separate post, Biden endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for this year.
“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,” he added.
“Today, I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said.
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Earlier, Biden had also stated that Harris would be the most suitable person to lead the Democratic campaign should he quit.
It was unclear whether other senior Democrats would challenge Harris for the party’s nomination or if the party itself would open the field for nominations. Harris was widely seen as the favored choice among many party officials.
Biden’s announcement follows a wave of public and private pressure from Democratic lawmakers and party officials to quit the race after his shockingly poor performance in a televised debate last month against Republican rival Donald Trump.
His unsteady performance at the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season was seen as a starting point of the voters’ trust deficit as he lost his train of thought and struggled to articulate basic talking points.
The 46th U.S. president’s departure from the race leaves the Democratic Party in an unprecedented situation, with less than four months until the November 5 election.
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