Introduction : Biden drops

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a disastrous debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the 2024 presidential campaign on Sunday. The president’s unprecedented announcement, made less than four months before the election, instantly transformed the most important election campaign in a generation for both political parties.

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The president, who plans to serve out the remainder of his term, immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination to run for President Trump and encouraged his party to rally behind her, leading to her engagement at the party’s convention in August.

The announcement is the latest blow to a chaotic White House race that comes a week after President Trump was assassinated at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Never before has a party’s presumptive presidential nominee dared to drop out of the race so close to an election. President Lyndon Johnson, embroiled in the Vietnam War, announced in March 1968 that he would not seek re-election after just one state primary. Biden’s decision in July came after more than 14 million Democrats voted for him in the primaries.

In a statement, Harris praised Biden’s “selfless and patriotic actions” and said she wanted to “earn and win” her party’s nomination.

“I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party and our country to defeat Donald Trump and his extremist agenda, Project 2025,” she said.

Biden made the decision after pressure from his Democratic allies mounted after the June 27 debate, during which the 81-year-old president repeatedly gave nonsensical answers and failed to expose the former president’s many lies.

“Serving as your president has been the greatest honor of my life. And while I intend to run for re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and country that I step down and focus fully on fulfilling my presidential responsibilities for the remainder of my term.

About 30 minutes after announcing his campaign, Biden endorsed Harris.

“Today I want to express my full support and approval for nominating Kamala as our party’s nominee this year,” he said in another post on X. “Democrats, now is the time to unite and unite to defeat Trump.”

Harris has a lot of work ahead of her in the days ahead, including securing delegates’ votes for her party’s nomination, selecting a vice president and leading a massive political campaign to re-elect Biden to bring new momentum to your nominating convention. If elected, Harris would be the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to become president.

Early indications are that Ms Harris’s party, the Congressional Black Caucus, backed by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is likely to withdraw from the race before Mr Biden even gets there to comment on the decision. I have it. What is notable, however, is that former US President Barack Obama declined to endorse the party’s eventual nominee.

“We are proud to join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do everything we can to support her,” Clinton said in a statement.

But Obama, who has privately expressed doubts about Biden’s reelection chances, stopped short of endorsing Harris, though he praised Biden’s decision to run.

“I am confident that our party’s leaders can create a process that will produce an outstanding nominee,” he said in a statement.

Biden made the decision as he remains in isolation at his Delaware beach home after testing positive for COVID-19 last week and discussing his political future with close confidants and family members. Biden said he would address the nation later this week and provide “details” of his decision.

Harris learned of Biden’s plans Sunday morning, and senior campaign and White House aides were briefed just minutes before the letter was released, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Biden has been contemplating his future in recent days and the decision has been carefully considered.

Now Democrats must urgently try to bring cohesion to the nominating process within a few weeks and quickly convince voters that their candidate can get the job done and beat Trump. And Trump, for his part, must turn his attention to a new opponent after focusing on Biden for years.

The decision marks a quick and unexpected end to Biden’s 52-year tenure in electoral politics, as donors, governors and even his allies have expressed doubts about whether he can convince voters that his run for office can sustain him for the next four years.

Biden won a majority of delegates and all but one of the nominating contests, making his nomination a mere formality. Now that he has withdrawn his candidacy, those delegates could support another candidate.

Under federal campaign finance rules, Harris, 59, appears to be the natural successor as she is the only person with direct access to Biden’s campaign funds.