WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden said he is ending his bid for reelection amid intense pressure from Democratic leaders sounding the alarm that his path to beat former President Donald Trump in November has vanished.
The president’s historic withdrawal throws the 2024 race − already roiled by a shocking attempt on Trump’s life − into uncertain territory, with Vice President Kamala Harris seen as the Democrat best placed to take Biden’s place atop the party’s ticket. Biden did not immediately endorse a successor.
Biden made the announcement Sunday from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he’s self-isolated since testing positive for COVID-19 Thursday night.
It marks an extraordinary turn for Biden, who for three weeks remained defiant in the face of growing calls from Democratic lawmakers that he withdraw after a disastrous June 27 debate with Trump raised scrutiny over the president’s mental fitness.
Biden’s exit came after he received bleak warnings from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries that his candidacy could lead to massive losses for Democrats in the Senate and House.
More than 30 congressional Democrats called for Biden to bow out, and former President Barack Obama reportedly relayed similar fears to Democratic allies about Biden’s prospects of beating Trump. Democratic donors from Hollywood to Wall Street also came out against Biden continuing his reelection bid.
The decision upends the 2024 election less than 110 days before Election Day, with Democratic National Committee members now tasked with choosing an alternative nominee to take on Trump, whose polling lead has swelled while Democrats have fought internally.
Vice President Harris is now the frontrunner to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, but the party’s bench of Democratic governors could also be in the mix including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gavin Newsom of California.
Biden becomes the first incumbent president not to seek reelection since Lyndon B. Johnson who, in 1968 amid national unrest and turmoil within the Democratic Party over the Vietnam War, stunned the nation with his decision not to seek a second full term.
Biden, 81, has battled Americans’ concerns over his age since he took office but it turned into panic for Democrats after last month’s first debate with Trump, the Republican nominee. Biden’s voice sounded faint, he struggled to complete sentences and finish thoughts, and he failed to rebut many many of Trump’s claims on the debate stage.
Biden’s campaign was in a free fall over the past few weeks with his future in doubt. Instead of focusing solely on Trump, Democrats spent as much time and energy debating whether Biden could even defeat his predecessor.
Fundraising for the Biden campaign took a dramatic hit. And Biden not only fell behind in key battleground states that will decide the election, but his growing unpopularity seemed to put recent Democratic strongholds like Virginia in play for Trump.
Biden’s departure will soon mean the end of a five-decade career in Washington that began in 1972 with an upset victory for U.S. Senate in Delaware. He served as a senator for 36 years, then as Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017. Biden returned to public life to run against Trump in the 2020 presidential election, beating Trump 51%-47% in the popular vote.
