President Joe Biden has announced that he will drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
In a letter posted Sunday, Biden, 81, said that he had intended to seek reelection but will "stand down" and "focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
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"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden wrote. "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. … For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected.
"I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me."
Biden said on social media that Harris has his "full support and endorsement" to be "the nominee of our party this year." Biden said he will speak in "more detail" about his decision later this week.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. 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… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
"On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country," Harris said in a statement posted to social media. "I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this 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."
Biden's decision comes amid pressure from his closest allies to drop out of the race, due to concerns over whether he can defeat former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election, the New York Times reported. Biden's exit leaves the Democratic party in an unprecedented position, with less than four months until the Nov. 5 election, the Washington Post reported.
