United States President Joe Biden has dropped his re-election bid in the forthcoming presidential elections slated for Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Biden withdrew from the race after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats who lost faith in his mental ability to beat Republican candidate Donald Trump.
In his announcement on Sunday, July 21, via his X account, the 81-year-old said his decision was in his party’s and the country’s best interest, adding he will remain in his role as president until the end of his term in January 2025.
In the statement, Biden expressed that serving as president of the United States was the greatest honour of his life.
“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,” said Biden.
In a subsequent post, Biden endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the 2024 White House race.
He rallied other Democrats to support Harris, saying their unity would see her beat their main competitor, Trump.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. 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,” he added.
Biden was under pressure to drop out of the race after a challenging debate against Trump at the end of June.
