President Biden announced Sunday that he will suspend his 2024 re-election campaign amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for the president to end his 2024 bid after a disastrous debate performance last month.
The unprecedented announcement came as an increasing number of Democrat lawmakers had begun to publicly call for Biden to step aside and the party’s leadership reportedly was engaged in efforts to convince Biden, 81, he could not win in November’s general election against former President Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee who Biden defeated four years ago to win the White House.
And Biden quickly offered his “full support and endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris to take over as the party’s presidential nominee.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden wrote in a public letter. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
Biden said he will formally address the nation later this week about his decision.
“For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected,” Biden wrote. “I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.”
Biden added: “I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”
In a social media post, Biden backed Harris to take over as the party’s standard-bearer.
“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. 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,” Biden wrote.
Source :foxnews
