On Sunday, President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race following a disastrous debate performance earlier in the campaign. The president announced this and his intent to serve out the remainder of his term in a statement posted on his social media accounts.
In the letter, Biden said, “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.”
Although no endorsement was made in his initial statement, Biden quickly made another post to his social media accounts that endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency. The post came nearly 30 minutes after his announcement. He said, “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.”
Harris has secured the support of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Former President Barack Obama has not endorsed her but has rather pledged to support the party’s eventual nominee.
This is the first time a party’s presumptive nominee has dropped out of the race so close to the November election. More than 14 million Democrats voted for Biden in the primaries.
While others may seek the Democratic nomination, Vice President Harris already has a functional campaign in place with access to the Biden-Harris funds. Others seeking nomination would have to set up a campaign and raise funds with little time left until the election in November.
Notably, Biden has not yet addressed the nation regarding his decision to drop out of the race. His initial statement said he would provide more detail to the American people later this week.
On August 19, Democrats will convene for the party’s convention in Chicago where delegates will vote for a presidential candidate.
