The president’s withdrawal under pressure from fellow Democrats after a disastrous debate cleared the way for a new nominee to take on former President Donald J. Trump in the fall.
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President Biden at the White House on July 3.
President Biden abandoned his campaign for a second term under intense pressure from fellow Democrats on Sunday, upending the race for the White House in a dramatic last-minute bid to find a new candidate who can stop former President Donald J. Trump from returning to the White House.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he said in a letter posted on social media. “And 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.”
Mr. Biden, who evidently plans to serve out his term through January even as he pulls out as a candidate, said he would “speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision” and expressed thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris “for being an extraordinary partner in all this work.” But he did not immediately endorse her and said nothing about how the Democratic Party should proceed to pick a new nominee.
One person informed about the matter said the president had told his senior staff at 1:45 p.m. that he had changed his mind, an announcement that surprised many aides who had been told as recently as Saturday night that his campaign was still full speed ahead. It was not immediately clear whether he wrote the letter himself or had help, nor did his aides know when or how he might address the nation.
The president’s decision set the stage for an intense, abbreviated scramble to build a new Democratic ticket, the first time in generations that a nomination will be settled at a convention rather than through primaries. Although he did not endorse Ms. Harris, she starts the truncated process in the strongest position, but could face challenges from other Democrats.
While Mr. Biden has six more months in office, the transition of the campaign to whomever is chosen will amount to a momentous generational change of leadership of the Democratic Party. The eventual nominee will have just over 75 days after next month’s convention to consolidate support from Democrats, establish themselves as a credible national leader and prosecute the case against the Republican former president.
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Source: nytimes.com
