Biden withdraws from 2024 presidential election, his opponent is Trump

president Joe Biden on Sunday Dropping out of 2024 Presidential Election and approves the Vice President Kamala Harris The 81-year-old incumbent withdrew from the race against the former president after weeks of pressure as the Democratic nominee. Donald Trump.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a post on the social media site X.

“While I intend to seek re-election, I have concluded that it is in the best interests of the party and the country for me to step down from the presidency and focus on the duties of the presidency for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.

“I will provide the nation with more details about my decision later this week,” Biden wrote. Biden made the shocking decision after a growing number of Democrats expressed their desire to select another candidate to run against Trump.

Biden wrote in a subsequent tweet that his “first decision as the 2020 Nominee was to choose Kamala Harris as my Vice President.”

“This is the best decision I’ve ever made. Today, I am throwing my full support behind Kamala as our Democratic nominee this year. Democrats – it’s time to unite and defeat Trump,” Biden wrote.

“Let’s get started.”

Biden, who has been isolating at his waterfront home in Rehoboth, Delaware, after being diagnosed with COVID-19, spoke with Harris on Sunday before announcing his withdrawal from the race.

Biden told his senior campaign staff at 1:45 p.m. ET on Sunday that he had changed his mind about continuing to run, NBC News reported.

“He shouldn’t have been there at all,” Trump said of Biden’s decision in a phone interview with NBC News.

“He should be in his basement,” Trump said.

“In the coming days, the Democratic Party will use a transparent, orderly process to unite and select a nominee who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

“This process will be conducted in accordance with the party’s established rules and procedures,” Harrison said. “Our delegates are prepared to take their responsibilities seriously and to promptly recommend a candidate to the American people.”

Biden’s move mirrors the decision of another Democratic incumbent, Lyndon Johnson, who withdrew from the 1968 election in the face of the turmoil of the Vietnam War, low approval ratings and an unexpectedly strong performance by Sen. Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary.

Biden’s campaign has insisted for weeks that he would remain in the race despite growing concerns since his devastating debate loss with Trump in late June that he is too old and too frail to run against the former president and would not be able to complete a second term if re-elected.

As of Sunday, nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress have urged Biden to withdraw. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who recently changed his political affiliation from Democrat to Independent, publicly said earlier on Sunday that Biden should withdraw from the race.

The president’s decision throws the presidential race into sharp relief less than four months before Election Day.

It also presents extraordinary problems and challenges for the Democratic Party, which must now work to assemble a new team of presidential candidates.

The next candidate will need to compete against Trump and Republican nominee Sen. J.D. Vance, winning over donors, delegates and other allies loyal to the incumbent president while convincing voters that they themselves are capable of holding the nation’s highest office.

Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After the debate with Trump on June 27, Biden began to lose support from his own party and allies.

Although Biden is only three years older than Trump, he looked and sounded much worse on the debate stage. His posture was stiff, his eyes were sometimes blank, and his voice was hoarse, slurred and ineffective when answering questions.

In both substance and appearance, Biden is a stark contrast to Trump, who in recent years has looked and sounded exactly like Trump.

The debate immediately sparked a crisis within the Democratic Party. Before the debate was over, senior Democratic leaders began to question whether Biden could effectively fight Trump.

Prominent Democratic donors and supporters have publicly urged Biden to withdraw, with some vowing to Withholding campaign contributions at the same time.

Biden and his aides spent weeks trying to stop the bleeding.

Biden, in his first interview since the debate, said he was convinced he was the best person to take on Trump, adding that he would only be persuaded to step down if “God came out and told me that.”

But his resolute attitude failed to appease There was unrest in his partyBiden hinted that he could withdraw through other means.

In an interview with BET that aired during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Biden said he might reconsider his decision to continue running “if I have some Presenting medical condition“”.

On the same day the interview was scheduled to air, Biden Tested positive for COVID-19He canceled a scheduled appearance in Las Vegas and retreated to his beachfront home in Delaware.

Biden is already the oldest president in White House history.

By the end of his second term, he would have been 86. Weathering issues This was true even during his 2020 run in terms of his physical and mental health.

Those concerns, which grew during the 2024 cycle, have been vigorously suppressed by the Biden campaign and White House aides, while the president’s relative lack of press conferences and interviews may have also shielded him from scrutiny of his acumen.

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