REHOBOTH BEACH: Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential race on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s new nominee, a stunning move that derails an already tight 2024 race for the White House.
Biden, 81, said he was acting in the “best interests of my party and the country” when he bowed to weeks of pressure after a disastrous June debate against Donald Trump that raised concerns about his age and mental fitness.
The move throws Democrats into fresh confusion ahead of the Nov. 5 election. But it could also reinvigorate a demoralized party, with Harris quick to confirm her aim to become America’s first female president and “defeat Donald Trump”.
Trump responded by saying that since Biden is not “eligible to run” for president, he is not “eligible to serve.” But there will be a dramatic shift for Republicans, whose campaign was focused solely on Biden, and instead will now face the 78-year-old Trump against a much younger opponent.
Biden’s withdrawal at some point was widely expected. The announcement finally came without warning as he recovered from Covid at his beach house in Delaware.
In a letter published on X, Biden said being president was “the greatest honor of my life.” He said he would address the nation later this week.
Shortly after, he offered his “full backing and support” for Harris.
The “Biden for President” campaign quickly filed an official notice to change its name to “Harris for President.”
Democrats must now seek to confirm a new nominee at their party convention in Chicago on August 19.
Still very influential former Democratic President Barack Obama warned that “uncharted waters” lay ahead.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — widely seen as one of the prime movers in the bid to oust Biden — said “God blessed America with the greatness and goodness of Joe Biden.”
Biden’s decision came after a period of enforced self-isolation with only a few family members and aides at his Rehoboth Beach home as he treated for a Covid infection.
First Lady Jill Biden responded by simply reposting his statement along with two hearts.
Biden’s decision to leave caps a tense and chaotic period in the US election, with Trump surviving an assassination attempt at a campaign rally on July 13 and Democrats torn for weeks over whether Biden should quit.
“It’s not a surprise. I think his mental decline was obvious. And it’s a shame,” said Thomas Watson, 67, an amateur presidential historian at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
A Democrat is the first president in US history to resign so late in an election race.
Biden spent more than three weeks defying calls to step down after the shock of the June 27 debate, during which he often lost his thoughts and stood open-mouthed.
Harris, meanwhile, struggled to make an impression in her early years in the White House, but played well on the campaign trail on key issues like abortion.
In recent weeks, the Biden campaign reportedly quietly conducted a direct voter poll that measured how the former California prosecutor aligned with convicted felon Trump.
Biden took office in January 2021 promising to heal the “soul of America” after four turbulent years under Trump and the shock of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
Overcoming a reputation for verbal volatility, Obama’s former vice president has strongly backed Ukraine’s battle against a Russian invasion in 2022, pushed through a massive Covid recovery plan and historic green industry subsidies.
But he faced criticism for the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, high inflation and his support for Israel’s war in Gaza – while concerns about his age only grew.
