Washington DC: US President Joe Biden on Sunday abandoned his faltering re-election bid, amid fierce opposition within his own Democratic Party, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's nominee against Republican Donald Trump.
In a post on X, 81, Biden said he will serve as president and commander-in-chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week.
“Serving as your President has been the greatest honor of my life. And while it is my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and country that I step down and focus on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term. ,” Biden wrote. .
His initial statement did not include an endorsement of Harris, but he followed up minutes later with an expression of support.
Biden's campaign was on the ropes after a disastrous June 27 debate against former President Trump, 78, in which the incumbent struggled to finish his thoughts at times.
Opponents within Biden's party last week saw 36 congressional Democrats — more than one in eight members of the caucus — publicly call on him to end his campaign.
Lawmakers said they fear he could lose them not only the White House but also the chance to control either chamber of Congress in the Nov. 5 election, leaving Democrats with no meaningful grip on power.
It was the exact opposite of what played out in the Republican Party last week, when members rallied around Trump and his running mate, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, 39.
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Harris, 59, will become the first black woman in the country's history to run at the top of a major party ticket.
Trump told CNN on Sunday that he believes Harris will be easy to beat.
Biden had a change of heart, a source familiar with the matter said. The president told aides he planned to stay in the race until Saturday night before changing his mind Sunday afternoon.
“Last night the message was forward with everyone, full speed ahead,” the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “About 1:45 p.m. this afternoon: The president told his senior team he had a change of heart.”
Biden announced his decision on social media within minutes.
It was unclear whether other senior Democrats would challenge Harris for the party's nomination — he was seen as the choice for many party officials — or whether the party itself would choose to open the field for the nomination.
Congressional Republicans argued that Biden should resign immediately, which would hand the White House to Harris and put House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, in line.
“If he's incapable of running for president, how is he capable of governing now? I mean, there's five months left in this administration. It's a real concern, and it's a threat to the country,” Johnson told CNN on Sunday before Biden's announcement.
Gave my all
Biden's announcement follows a wave of public and private pressure from Democratic lawmakers and party officials to drop out of the race after his shockingly poor debate.
His troubles have shifted the public spotlight away from Trump's performance, in which he made false statements, and on questions surrounding Biden's fitness for another 4-year term.
A few days later he raised new concerns in an interview, dismissing the concerns of Democrats and the growing gap in opinion polls, and said that if he knew Trump would be better off beating him if he “gave it my all.”
His gaffes at the NATO summit — invoking Russian President Vladimir Putin when he meant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and calling Harris “Vice President Trump” — raised further concerns.
Just four days before Sunday's announcement, Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19, forcing him to cut short a campaign trip to Las Vegas. More than one congressional Democrat has publicly called on him to drop out of the race.
The historic move by Biden — the first sitting president to abandon his party's nomination for re-election since Vietnam War-era President Lyndon Johnson in March 1968 — leaves his replacement with less than four months to campaign.
If Harris emerges as the nominee, the move would represent an unprecedented gamble by the Democratic Party: the first black and Asian-American woman to run for the White House, the first to elect a black president, and the first woman president to ever have more than two. Centuries.
By defeating Trump in 2020, Biden became the oldest US president elected. During that campaign, Biden described himself as a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders. Some explained that he would serve one term, a transitional figure who defeated Trump and returned his party to power.
But he has set his sights on a second term, believing he is the only Democrat who can beat Trump again amid questions about Harris' experience and popularity. In recent times, however, his advancing age began to show more. His gait became unsteady and his childhood stutters occasionally returned.
His team hoped a strong performance in the June 27 debate would ease concerns about his age. It backfired: A Reuters/Ipsos poll after the debate showed that nearly 40 percent of Democrats thought he should drop out of the race.
Donors began to revolt and Harris' supporters began to rally around him. Top Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime ally, said Biden could not win the election.
Biden initially resisted pressure to secede. He made damage control calls and meetings with lawmakers and state governors, and sat down for rare television interviews. But it was not enough. Polls show Trump's lead widening in key battleground states, and Democrats fear a wipeout in the House and Senate. On July 17, Representative Adam Schiff of California asked her to drop out of the race.
Biden's departure sets up a stark contrast between the Democrats' presumptive nominee, Harris, a former prosecutor, and Trump, who is more than two decades his senior and faces two outstanding criminal charges related to trying to overturn the 2020 election results. He will be sentenced in September in New York on charges of trying to cover up hush-money payments to a porn star.
Biden struggles before debate
Earlier this year, facing little opposition, Biden easily won the Democratic primary race to choose his presidential nominee despite voter concerns about his age and health.
His strong support for Israel's military campaign in Gaza has angered some in his own party, particularly young, progressive Democrats and voters of color, who make up a vital part of the Democratic base.
Many black voters say Biden hasn't done enough for them, and enthusiasm among Democrats overall for a second Biden term is low. Even before the debate with Trump, Biden was trailing Republicans in some national polls and in the battleground states he would need to win on Nov. 5.
Harris was tasked with reaching out to those voters in recent months.
During the primary race, Biden amassed more than 3,600 delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. That was nearly double the 1,976 needed to win the party's nomination.
Unless the Democratic Party changes the rules, delegates pledged to Biden will enter the convention “unrestricted,” leaving them to vote on his successor.
Democrats also have a system of “superdelegates,” senior party officials and elected leaders whose support is limited on the first ballot but who can play a decisive role in later rounds.
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 in key battleground states, including tight races in Pennsylvania and Georgia. Nationally, he led Trump by more than 7 million votes, capturing 51.3 percent of the popular vote to Trump's 46.8 percent.
