President Biden announced on Sunday he was ending his bid for a second term, upending the race for the White House less than four months before Election Day. The stunning move by Biden reflects the precipitous loss in confidence he faced among Democrats following a troubling debate performance in Atlanta on June 27 against Donald Trump.
Biden made the announcement in a letter addressed to “My Fellow Americans” posted on social media.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” the letter reads. “And while it has been the 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.”
The historic decision makes Biden the first sitting president to cancel his re-election bid in over half a century, when Lyndon Johnson announced in March 1968 he would not accept the Democratic Party’s nomination amid disapproval over his handling of the Vietnam War.
Biden’s departure opens the door for Vice President Kamala Harris or another younger Democratic leader to vie for the top job against the 78-year-old Trump. It was not immediately clear exactly how the Democratic Party will decide on their nominee.
Democrats were shaken in June when Biden stumbled his way through his debate with Trump, mixing up names and figures, losing his train of thought, failing to parry back against Trump’s blatant lies, or give coherent descriptions of his own accomplishments and vision for a second term. In the days and weeks after, a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers and donors sounded the alarm, warning that Biden was likely to lose in November, potentially dragging down the party’s candidates across the country and handing the House and Senate to Republicans.
For weeks, Biden insisted he would stay in the race and worked overtime to shore up his main pillars of support: union leaders and the Congressional Black Caucus. He blasted Democratic donors and “elites” for trying to push him out of the race. But it wasn’t enough.
The list of prominent Democrats calling for him to step aside continued last week and into this weekend.
“I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision,” Biden wrote in his letter.
The prospect of Harris replacing Biden at the top of the ticket has drawn concerns from some within the party that she may be as weak or a weaker candidate against Trump. Biden has previously said he wouldn’t have picked Harris for vice president if he didn’t think she would make a strong President.
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