U.S. President Joe Biden withdraws from 2024 election, endorses V.P. Kamala Harris

CITYnews halifax / By Nick Westoll and The Associated Press

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced he is withdrawing from the 2024 election amid growing pressure from Democrats to drop out of the race and is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

The announcements were made on Biden’s X account Sunday afternoon.

“It has been the greatest [honour] of my life to serve as your president,” a statement issued just after 1:45 p.m. ET said.

“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.”

Biden said he planned on addressing the nation later in the coming week to elaborate on his decision to pull out. He will remain in office until Jan. 20.

Minutes after issuing his statement, Biden said he endorsed Harris to be the Democratic Party’s nominee in the November election.

“It’s been the best decision I’ve made,” he said about naming Harris as his running mate in 2020.

“Today I want to 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. Let’s do this.”

Harris praised Biden’s “selfless and patriotic act” in a statement, and said she intends to “earn and win” her party’s nomination. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda,” she said.

In the letter announcing his decision, Biden touted various accomplishments his administration has made since assuming office in January 2021, while also thanking Harris, his supporters and the country.

“I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do when we do it together,” he wrote.

“We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”

pic.twitter.com/RMIRvlSOYw

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

Some prominent Democrats moved to endorse Harris, who hadn’t yet commented publicly on Biden’s decision to step aside or formally stated she is running to succeed him.

“We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her,” former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

But former President Barack Obama, who had privately shared doubts about Biden’s reelection chances, stopped short of endorsing Harris even as he praised Biden for his decision to leave the race.

“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” he said in a statement.

The announcement came as there have been growing calls within, and supporters of, the Democratic party for him to step out of the race. The sentiment appears to have been echoed in polls conducted among Americans.

Dozens of Democrat members of Congress have urged Biden to withdraw since a critical debate on CNN at the end of June. The 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out the former president Donald Trump’s many falsehoods.

Chuck Schumer, a senator from New York and the senate majority leader, called Biden “a true patriot and a great American” in a statement on X Sunday afternoon.

“Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader but he’s a truly amazing human being,” he wrote.

“His decision of course was not easy, but he once again put his country, his party, and our future first.”

Joe Biden has not only been a great president and a great legislative leader but he’s 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.

Joe, today shows you are a true patriot and great American.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 21, 2024

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 a matter of 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 to him 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 she is the only candidate who can directly tap into the Biden campaign’s war chest, according to federal campaign finance rules.

Biden’s backing helps clear the way for Harris, but a smooth transition is by no means assured.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced that it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin.

It remained to be seen whether other candidates would challenge Harris for the nomination. The Democratic National Committee’s chair, Jaime Harrison, said in a statement that the party would “undertake a transparent and orderly process” to select “a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

I’ve known President Biden for years. He’s a great man, and everything he does is guided by his love for his country. As President, he is a partner to Canadians — and a true friend.

To President Biden and the First Lady: thank you. pic.twitter.com/5mQvFn8INn

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 21, 2024

Trump reacted to the news in a post on his Truth Social site, in which he said Biden “was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve.”

“We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly,” he added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

While Trump and his team had made their preference for facing Biden clear, his campaign had nonetheless ramped up its attacks on Harris as pressure on Biden to step down intensified.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Biden should immediately resign if he is not fit enough to run for office. In a statement, Johnson said “November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.”