Biden Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race
On Sunday July 21st, President Biden announced that he has decided to step aside and not seek reelection, just 15 weeks ahead of the November election. His withdrawal caps a singular national political career. He mounted four presidential bids. He spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate representing tiny Delaware. He rose to the chairmanships of the powerful Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees. And he served eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president.
This decision comes after many top Democrats including Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY-08), and most recently President Barack Obama all encouraged President Biden to consider whether or not he was the right person to beat Trump. While Biden's age has always been a topic of conversation, last month's disastrous debate performance caused many to become more outspoken with their concern for the President's mental fitness. Despite the pressure, Biden remained steadfast in his belief that he was the candidate best suited to beat Donald Trump. This was until July 17th when he announced that if he were given a reason from a doctor, he would consider withdrawing from the race. Later that evening the Biden campaign announced that the President tested positive for COVID-19 and would be quarantining in Delaware. This was a catastrophic series of events for the Biden campaign, all of which occurred during the Republican National Convention and in the aftermath of President Trump's assassination attempt.
In the one page letter to the American people, Biden said it has been "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." He said that he will address the nation this week with more details on his decision. Moments after the decision was announced, President Biden tweeted, "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. 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."
Next steps will no doubt be difficult for Democrats, Republicans have already begun their calls for his resignation. The Democratic convention will now look entirely different, it will now be an open convention with Vice President Harris now in the spotlight. The convention will take place in Chicago where in 1968 it was the site of major anti-war protests that were broadcasted into millions of homes. With Biden finding himself receiving major backlash on his position on the war in Gaza, and an expected 30,000 protestors anticipated to gather outside the convention center, tensions going into the Chicago convention have already been high. Now with his exit, and the endorsement of Vice President Harris the convention remains full of uncertainty. As more details become available, Constitution Partners will continue to provide updates.