Introduction: Biden ends

After a five-decade career, Biden has to reckon with his age and his ability to defeat Trump.
His endorsement comes as his party faces a historic bid to replace Vice President Kamala Harris.

By Peter Nicholas and Dareh Gregorian

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he is ending his presidential campaign,
bringing an abrupt and humiliating end to his half-century political career and dropping out of the race for the White House less than four months before Election Day.

Biden, 81, failed to reverse the growing feeling in his party that he was too weak to serve and that he would lose to Donald Trump in November. He supported Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee to replace him.

“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 solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,
” Biden wrote. . In a letter published in X:

“I will report my decision to the nation in more detail at the end of the week.”

In the letter, Biden thanked Harris for being

“a great partner” and endorsed him in a follow-up post.

“I will report my decision to the nation in more detail at the end of the week.”
In his letter, Biden thanked Harris for being an “outstanding partner”
and later endorsed him in a follow-up message.

“My first decision as the party’s 2020 nominee is to select Kamala Harris as my running mate,
” Biden wrote. “And it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
Today I would like to express my full support and endorsement to

Kamala as our party’s candidate this year.”

Biden and Harris met several times on Sunday before the president’s announcement,
according to a person familiar with the campaign.
In a statement, Harris thanked Biden for his

“extraordinary leadership” and “impressive accomplishments.”

“I am honored to have the support of the president and my intention is to seek and
win this nomination,” Harris said.

“I will do everything in my power to unite the
Democratic Party and our country to defeat Donald Trump and the
extreme politics of Project 2025,” he said.

Biden has publicly said he would stay in the race for weeks,

but at 1:45 p.m. he told his
leadership team that he had changed his mind about continuing the campaign.
ET, according to a source with direct knowledge.

A tweet announcing his decision was sent at 1:46 p.m.
His departure ends a unique national political career punctuated by
the fall of Richard Nixon and the rise of Trump. He ran for president four times.
He spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate,

representing the small state of Delaware. He became chairman of the powerfulaaa
Justice and Foreign Affairs Committee. And he was Barack Obama’s deputy for eight years.

‘Great public servant’

The politicians’ reactions began very soon.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a post
“He will go down in history as one of the most influential and committed presidents in history,
said Newsom,

one of Biden’s most prominent successors. Newsom,
the Democratic presidential nominee,
announced his support for Harris hours after the announcement,

writing in a post titled, “There is no one better suited to lead us on this path.
” We have further instructions for the vice president of the United States @KamalaHarris. “
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, another prominent Democrat

who is being talked about as a potential national candidate,
called Biden a “great public service” in a post about X.

“My mission in this election remains the same.

I will do everything in my power to elect a Democrat and stop Donald Trump,
a convicted felon, from imposing
‘national prohibition’ and abusing the power of the White
House to solve his own problems.” “This value is completely wrong for Michigan,
” Whitmer wrote.

US First Lady Jill Biden retweeted her husband’s announcement with a heart emoji.
“She supported him on the path he chose, right up to the final hours of a decision
that only he could have made,” said Elizabeth Alexander, his communications director.

Days after the end of the Republican National Convention,
speaker after speaker condemned the Biden-Harris ticket.
Republicans on the other side condemned the move and many called for his resignation.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said:

“If Joe Biden is not able to run for president,
then he is not able to be president. He should resign immediately.”
In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, President Trump responded to Biden’s decision,

calling him “the worst president in American history.”
Asked if he was surprised by Biden’s decision, Trump said that Biden
“shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

“He should have stayed in the basement,” Trump said.
Trump’s campaign said in a fundraising email that Biden
“dropped out of the race in complete disgrace.”

An unprecedented decision

Biden’s decision to drop out of the race less than a month before his party’s
convention and months before voters go to the polls is unprecedented in the modern
political era. Lyndon Johnson was the last president to seek re-election in the 1960s,

when the escalating Vietnam War divided the Democratic Party. However,
Johnson’s announcement came in March 1968, eight months before the election.
“We’re in uncharted territory,” said Barbara Perry, a professor of presidential
studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

“No president has left or died anywhere in this Congress.”\

Replacing Biden could lead to internal unrest among Democrats as ambitious officials
seek to replace him.

Divisions have already formed around Harris, Whitmer and Newsom.

Harris, 59, is 22 years younger than Biden and the heir to the throne.
She broke the barrier and became the first female vice president.
As a woman of color, she enjoys strong support among African Americans loyal

to the Democratic coalition. But Harris’ overall approval rating was just 32%,
according to an NBC News poll released earlier this month.
“Right now, there’s no obvious replacement that you can name,
” Perry said. “That’s what makes the situation so uncertain and confusing.

Unlike Republican delegates, who are tied to their nominee,
Democratic delegates are not,

allowing them to do whatever they want in the convention.
Biden may have some leverage over delegates,

but they may vote for a candidate other

than the one he chooses until the convention changes the rules to address
this unprecedented situation. According to the rules, representatives
“must reflect the feelings of their constituents with a good conscience”.
“In the coming days, the party will begin a transparent and orderly process to move

forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald
Trump in November,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison
said in a statement. This process is subject to the rules and procedures established by

the party. Our delegation is prepared to take seriously its
responsibility to quickly deliver candidates to the American people.
The mechanism for putting new names on the ballot also creates a myriad

of legal problems. Republicans can try to block candidates by taking
legal action to keep them off the ballot.
“I think there are legal hurdles in some of these states. There will be lawsuits,

” House Speaker Johnson said Sunday in an interview with CNN ahead of Biden’s announcement.
He added: You have a big problem.

Support for Harris

Democratic leaders in Congress did not immediately support Harris,
but many prominent members of Congress, including Reps.

James Clyburn of South Carolina,
Jimmy Raskin of Maryland, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Adam Schiff,

joined Biden in supporting the vice president. President Sen. Eric Swallow of California, Sen.
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Sen.
Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

Rep. Stephen Horsford (D-Nev.),

chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep.
Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.),

chairman of the group’s PAC, joined Mr. Biden in nominating Ms.
Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate. I fully support it.

“One thing I know: I will only work for @KamalaHarris.”

“If it’s anyone other than him,
enjoy the campaign season.”

“I look forward to working hard to elect him to the White House so we can build on
the progress of the last four years,

” Sen. Maisie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said in a statement.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg,

who is running for president in 2020,
also supported Harris, saying he would do

“everything we can to get him elected.”
Former President Barack Obama did not immediately support Harris.

“We will be breaking new ground in the coming days, but I have great
confidence that our party leaders can create a process in which we have great candidates,
” he said in a statement.

Ms. Harris’ fledgling campaign immediately gave the Democratic
Party a rush of small-dollar donors. ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s main online

fundraising platform, reported that groups using it raised $27.5 million in the first five
hours of the campaign.
(Not all of the money went to Harris,
but he probably got a significant amount.)