WASHINGTON Less than four months before Election Day, President Joe Biden abruptly and humbly declared on Sunday that he will not be running for president again. This decision threw a wrench into his fifty-year political career.
The 81-year-old Biden was unable to stop the increasing belief in his party that he was too weak to lead and would fall short against Donald Trump in November. He supported Kamala Harris, the vice president, to be the Democratic nominee in his place.
"Although I had intended to run for reelection, I feel that it would be better for my party and the nation if I stepped down and concentrated only on carrying out my responsibilities as President for the balance of my term," Biden stated in a letter that was published on X. "I will discuss my decision in greater detail with the Nation later this week."
In a subsequent tweet, Biden praised Harris and thanked her for "being an extraordinary partner."
"As the 2020 party nominee, Kamala Harris was my first choice for vice president," Biden said on social media. "And I've never made a better choice. I would want to declare today that Kamala has my utmost support and endorsement for this year's party nominee.
Prior to the president's announcement on Sunday, Biden and Harris had many conversations, a person familiar with the campaign said.
Harris expressed gratitude to Biden for "his extraordinary leadership" and his "remarkable legacy of achievement" in a statement.
"It is a privilege to have the President's support, and my goal is to merit and secure this nomination," Harris declared. "I will exert every effort to bring the Democratic Party and our country together in opposition to Donald Trump and his divisive Project 2025 agenda," she declared.
At 1:45 p.m. ET, Biden, who had been publicly adamant for weeks that he intended to remain in the race, informed his senior team that he had reconsidered, according to a source with firsthand knowledge. He put out the announcement tweet at 1:46 p.m.
Richard Nixon's downfall and Trump's ascent bookend a unique national political career that ends with his retirement. He launched four campaigns for president. He represented the small state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate for 36 years. He advanced to become the head of the influential Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees. Additionally, he was Barack Obama's vice president for eight years.
Soon after, politicians started to respond.
Biden "has been an extraordinary, history-making president — a leader who has fought hard for working people and delivered astonishing results for all Americans," according to a post made on X by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
One of the most well-known surrogates for Biden, Newsom, declared, "He will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents." After hours of the announcement, Newsom, who had been mentioned as a potential Democratic presidential candidate, announced his support for Harris on X, writing that "no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President, @KamalaHarris."
In a post on X, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, another well-known Democrat who is being considered as a potential national contender, referred to Biden as a "great public servant."
Whitmer stated, "My job in this election will remain the same: doing everything I can to elect Democrats and stop Donald Trump, a convicted felon whose agenda is completely wrong for Michigan. It is an agenda that would raise costs for families, ban abortion nationwide, and abuse the White House to settle his own scores."
First lady Jill Biden used heart emojis to reshare her husband's news. Elizabeth Alexander, her director of communications, stated that "down to the last hours of the decision only he could make, she was supportive of whatever road he chose."
Days after the conclusion of a Republican National Convention when speaker after speaker criticized the Biden-Harris ticket, Republicans on the other side of the aisle criticized the decision and many called on him to resign from office.
Joe Biden is unfit to be president if he is unfit to run for office. House Speaker Mike Johnson declared, "He has to step down from the position immediately.
In response to Biden's choice, Trump referred to the president as "the worst president in the history of the United States by far" in a brief phone conversation with NBC News.
In response to a question about whether Biden's choice shocked him, Trump stated that Biden "should never have been there in the first place."
Trump remarked, "He ought to have stayed in his basement."
Trump's team said in an email intended for donors that Biden "quit the race in complete disgrace."
The original article was published here.