Joe Biden Withdraws From Presidential Race, Endorses Kamala Harris to Be Democratic Nominee

Matt Webb Mitovich
·4 min read
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President Joe Biden has decided to withdraw himself from the 2024 presidential race.

Biden’s decision comes 24 days after his concerning showing at the first presidential debate against Republican nominee Donald Trump — and with less than four months to go until Election Day, on Nov. 5.

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Biden announced his decision in a statement posted on X, writing, “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.”

In a subsequent X post, Biden formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party’s new nominee.

“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,” he wrote. “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.”

Broadcast networks will air special reports to address Biden’s exit from the race. ABC’s two-hour special Biden Stands Down: The Race for the White House will begin at 7 pm ET; Norah O’Donnell will host CBS Evening News at 6 pm, followed by a special report at 7 pm; and Lester Holt will anchor NBC Nightly News at 6:30 pm, followed by a two-hour special starting at 7 pm (pre-empting American Ninja Warrior).

Biden’s stammering, misstatements and intermittent, glassy stares during the June 27 debate sparked a national conversation about the 81-year-old incumbent’s age and mental acuity, to a degree that inner D.C. circles worried that his candidacy was no longer strong enough to fend off Trump’s bid at a second White House term.

Nearly 70% of all TVLine readers said that Trump bested Biden in their first face-off of the election cycle.

Recently, Biden allegedly confided in one ally that “if he has two more events like” that first debate, he may not be able to savage his candidacy and thus will decide to step down, the New York Times reported on July 3 — though a White House spokesperson said at the time that the hearsay was “absolutely false.”

The day after that debate in Atlanta, Biden addressed his most vocal critics during a rousing speech in North Carolina. “I know I’m not a young man,” he said. “I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know what millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

In the wake of Biden’s scrutinized debate performance, his reelection team aimed to change the narrative by lining him up for a campaign trail sitdown with Good Morning America and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos. He also called in to MSNBC’s Morning Joe on July 8, reaffirming to hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski that he planned to stay in the race.

The first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle came four weeks after Trump, now a convicted felon, was found guilty on all 34 counts in a hush money trial tied to payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump made headlines once again on July 13, when he became the target of an apparent assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa; he recounted the ordeal on July 18, while speaking at the closing night of the Republican National Convention.

In a Truth Social post reacting to Biden’s withdrawal announcement on Sunday, Trump wrote, “Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation. He has done everything possible to destroy our Country, from our Southern Border, to Energy Dominance, National Security, International Standing, and so much more. He was annihilated in an Earth Shattering Debate, and now the Corrupt and Radical Democrats are throwing him overboard. He was not fit to serve from the very beginning, but the people around him lied to America about his Complete and Total Mental, Physical, and Cognitive Demise. Whoever the Left puts up now will just be more of the same. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

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