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US President Joe Biden has abandoned his re-election bid following overwhelming pressure from fellow Democrats and endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris to succeed him, saying it was “in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down”.
The president announced his decision to quit the race in a letter published to social media on Sunday, throwing this year’s White House contest into turmoil with less than four months to go until voters in the world’s biggest economy elect their new leader on November 5.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president,” Biden said. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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 president added that he would speak to the country “later this week in more detail about my decision”. Biden has not been seen in public since Wednesday, when he was diagnosed with Covid-19.
He said in a second social media post that he would “offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year”.
“Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump,” Biden added. “Let’s do this.”
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Harris did not immediately respond publicly to Biden’s announcement or endorsement. But she swiftly picked up the backing of several influential Democrats.
Former president Bill Clinton and the party’s 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton issued a joint statement saying they were “honoured to join the president in endorsing vice-president Harris”, adding they would “do whatever we can to support her”.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer — both considered possible presidential candidates themselves — were also expected to endorse Harris, said three prominent Democratic party donors and operatives with direct knowledge of the matter. Representatives for Newsom and Whitmer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The president’s unprecedented decision will reverberate across the globe, injecting new uncertainty into US policy and the White House’s authority on the world stage at a moment of acute geopolitical tension, from the Indo-Pacific to Ukraine to the Middle East.
Biden’s announcement follows more than three weeks of wrenching debate among Democrats about his candidacy after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump reignited concerns about his mental acuity and damaged his standing among American voters. An Associated Press poll out last week found nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters said Biden should drop out of the race.
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Trump had opened up a significant polling lead over Biden in national and swing state surveys in recent weeks. In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday he said Biden was “not fit to run for president” and “certainly not fit to serve”.
“We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly,” Trump added.
Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson issued a statement calling for Biden’s immediate resignation from the presidency.
“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for president, he is not fit to serve as president,” Johnson said. “He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”
But Biden’s decision earned him immediate praise from several top Democrats, including Senate leader Chuck Schumer, who described him as a “great president . . . a great legislative leader” and “a truly amazing human being”.
“His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.”
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, said the country would be “forever grateful” to Biden for his leadership.
The decision by the 46th American president not to seek a second term marks the beginning of the end of one of Washington’s most storied political careers. Biden entered the Senate in 1973, became vice-president to Barack Obama in 2009, and gained the Oval Office in 2020 in an era marked by a global pandemic, economic recovery, inflation and war.
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