After weeks of speculation whether he’d continue on in his 2024 campaign, President President Joe Biden has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. The presumed Democratic candidate for the upcoming election made the announcement on Sunday, July 21, in a statement posted to his social media accounts.
In his statement, Biden wrote, “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 the best interest 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.”
In addition to this announcement, Biden also took this time to endorse his current vice president, Kamala Harris, as the next Democratic presidential nominee. Just after sharing his letter about stepping down from the election, he shared another post in which he encouraged voters to get behind Harris.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote in the post. “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.”
The news of Biden stepping down comes soon after the president’s July 17 announcement that he was sick with Covid. Although he reportedly had mild symptoms, his diagnosis forced him to leave the campaign trail to self-isolate at home in Delaware.
This update is certainly rattling the Democratic party, but it isn’t all that shocking for many. Ever since the June 27 presidential debate between Biden and the Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, both critics and supporters of Biden have wondered whether he would bow out from the race. This largely because Biden seemed unable to hold his own on the debate stage, tripping over his words, looking confused, and generally exhibiting low energy throughout the night.
At 81 years old, Biden himself admits he’s “not a young guy,” and questions about his age as it relates to his ability to hold the most powerful political office in the world have been brought up long before that June debate. (To be fair, at 78, Trump is not far behind him.) Many Gen Zers have expressed a lack of excitement when it comes to voting for a candidate so much older than them, primarily because they have a hard time seeing how they could ever understand each other.
People on social media left comments praising the president for his decision. One person wrote, “I support your decision. Thank you for your service, President Biden.” Another wrote, “I am so unbelievably proud to have voted for you, Joe! And this decision will forever cement you as one of my personal heroes. Thank you.”
Although Harris has the support of the president (and many others), Americans will still have to wait and see who the contenders for the Democratic nominee will be. The official nominee will be chosen at the Democratic National Convention, set to be held from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22 in Chicago, Illinois.