EBN- US President Joe Biden decided to step down from the election race only four months until the 2024 US presidential election.
Biden announced he’d be pulling out of the race, and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris as the new candidate.
The announcement comes after weeks of calls for Biden to step down following what the Associated Press and others have called a “disastrous” debate performance in late June.
“While it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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,” said Biden in a letter posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Despite Biden’s endorsement, there is no guarantee that Harris will be the Democrats’ new candidate in what both parties describe as the most important presidential election in generations.
Although Joe Biden has not said exactly why he stepped down, the announcement follows weeks of Democrats calling him unfit to run after his June 27 debate with Donald Trump.
In that debate, Biden often trailed off, was difficult to understand, and failed to call out many of Trump’s lies.
However, other Democrats wanted him to stay on, warning that it was too late in the campaign to switch candidates.
A party’s expected nominee has never stepped down this close to an election, according to the Associated Press. The election is on Nov. 5.
