United States President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is withdrawing from the presidential election race and endorsed Kamala Harris to take his place against Donald Trump this November.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday shortly before 2 p.m. ET.
“And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” he said.
Biden said he would address the nation later this week to provide more details about his decision.
In a separate statement, Biden gave his endorsement to his vice-president, Kamala Harris.
“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. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he said.
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“Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Biden had previously insisted he is not backing down, adamant that he is the candidate who beat Trump before and will do it again this year.
But the move comes after many top Democrats had privately and publicly expressed concern over Biden’s ability to beat Trump, citing concerns about this age.
On July 18, several media outlets reported that former U.S. president Barack Obama had privately expressed concerns to Democrats about Biden’s candidacy. And Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately warned Biden that Democrats could lose the ability to seize control in the House if he didn’t step away from the race.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, on July 17, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call for Biden to drop his reelection bid, saying that while the decision is Biden’s alone to make, he believes it’s time to “pass the torch.”
Biden, 81, was elected president on Nov. 3, 2020, along with his running mate, Harris. He took office on Jan. 20, 2021.
The president had been isolating at his home in Delaware after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
- With files from the Associates Press and Reuters
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