BREAKING NEWS: President Joe Biden Drops Out Of The 2024 Race
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday (July 21), ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.
The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers, and failed to call out the former president’s many falsehoods.
Biden plans to serve the remainder of his term in office, which ends at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. 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,” Biden wrote in a letter posted to his X account.
Joe Biden, who remains at his Delaware beach house after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, said he would address the nation later this week to provide “detail” about his decision.
The White House confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
He did not immediately support Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s instant favorite for the nomination at its August convention in Chicago.
The announcement is the latest jolt to a campaign for the White House that both political parties see as the most consequential election in generations, coming just days after the attempted assassination of Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
A party’s presumptive presidential nominee has never stepped out of the race so close to the election. The closest parallel would be President Lyndon Johnson, who, besieged by the Vietnam War, announced in March 1968 that he would not seek another term.
Now, Democrats have to urgently try to bring coherence to the nominating process in weeks and persuade voters in a stunningly short amount of time that their nominee can handle the job and beat Trump. And for his part, Trump must shift his focus to a new opponent after years of training his attention on Biden.
The decision marks a swift and stunning end to Biden’s 52 years in electoral politics, as donors, lawmakers, and even aides expressed their doubts that he could convince voters that he could plausibly handle the job for another four years.
Biden won the vast majority of delegates and every nominating contest but one, which would have made his nomination a formality. Now that he has dropped out, those delegates will be free to support another candidate.
Harris, 59, appeared to be the natural successor, in large part because, according to federal campaign finance rules, she is the only candidate who can directly tap into the Biden campaign’s war chest.
Biden’s decision to not explicitly endorse Harris appears to set the stage for the party’s mess to continue up to the convention.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. Still, the party had announced that it would hold a virtual roll call to nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin formally.
The date for the roll call hasn’t been set, and it’s unlikely that will happen since the field is suddenly wide open. Harris would likely have competition from others looking to replace Biden. However, that could create a scenario in which she and others end up lobbying individual state delegations at the convention for their support.