President Joe Biden has announced he will ‘stand down’ from the 2024 election.
“While it has been my intention 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,” Biden said in a statement shared on X.
Biden went on to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” he wrote in a follow-up statement. “Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
The president is currently self-isolating at his beach house in Delaware after contracting COVID-19.
His Sunday afternoon announcement comes after 37 Democratic and Independent lawmakers publicly called for the president to pass the torch to a different candidate. Several influential Democrats, including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, reportedly also called on Biden to drop out in private.
The calls from within his own party for Biden to drop out followed his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris ran a call with 300 major donors on Friday night that left many “frustrated” and feeling the meeting was “mismanaged,” NBC News reports.
