President Joseph R. Biden has dropped his re-election bid. Biden announced his decision with a letter posted to social media, after a growing movement for him to step aside.
Biden’s announcement comes after weeks of mounting pressure from donors, Congressional Democrats, and other erstwhile allies who have publicly and privately called on him to drop out of the race.
Biden resisted calls to drop out for weeks, but in a pre-taped interview with BET News that aired Wednesday, said he’d consider exiting the race if a doctor diagnosed him with a “medical condition.” The White House announced Wednesday night that Biden tested positive for covid-19 and is “experiencing mild symptoms.”
Democratic Party insiders began expressing concern about Biden’s age and ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in the wake of the June presidential debate, during which Biden appeared confused and was occasionally incoherent. He initially acknowledged his poor debate performance but insisted he wouldn’t drop out of the race, even as former allies — including George Clooney, a major Democratic donor — called on him to step down. He once again declined to drop out in a July 8th open letter to his fellow Democrats. “We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump,” Biden wrote. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us.”
In an effort to reassure the public about Biden’s health and stamina Biden’s campaign planned a back-to-back events blitz in the aftermath of the debate. “We really want to turn the page on this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the Associated Press. But attempts to quell doubts from vocal voters, donors, and Democratic party members appeared to ease worries about the president’s age.
New York’s Olivia Nuzzi recently reported on a “conspiracy of silence” among the president’s inner circle regarding Biden’s cognitive decline. Several major donors at multimillion dollar fundraising events noticed a marked change in Biden’s demeanor in recent months, according to CNN. “He was less cogent than usual,” one person who attended Clooney’s June fundraiser for Biden told the outlet. “There’s this general sense of just, unbelievable holding your breath every time he does an event, every time he’s with people,” a top Democrat close to Biden’s advisors told CNN.
Members of Biden’s party have been publicly and privately calling on Biden to step down from the race since the debate. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), among the most prominent Democrats who has said Biden should step down, urged Biden to “pass the torch.” In an appearance on MSNBC, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said it was “up to the president to decide if he is going to run.” Pelosi reportedly met with Biden to warn him that staying in the race could cost him — and downballot Democrats — the election. And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told Biden that his caucus had serious concerns about Biden’s candidacy, sources told Axios.
For weeks, Biden’s campaign and allies dismissed the dissenters within his party as being out of touch with “average Democrats” who wanted him to stay in the race. But two-thirds of respondents to a July 17th poll by the AP-NORC Center said Biden should withdraw from the race and let the party nominate a different candidate.