President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he is no longer running for reelection, clearing the way for a new Democratic candidate amid a tidal wave of concerns about his age and ability to challenge Donald Trump in November.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he said in a letter. “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.”
The announcement will immediately throw the party’s nomination process into chaos with just weeks to go until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
The president and his allies had sought to quell fears about his age — Biden is 81 — following a disastrous first debate against Trump in Atlanta in June. The White House had blamed a cold and an intense international travel schedule for his performance. But despite assurances to lawmakers in Washington, fellow Democrats began to abandon his bid en masse as his poll numbers cratered and his donors began withholding their support.
Questions about his bid only mounted following the assassination attempt against Trump, a moment of collective horror that galvanized the former president’s base and further united his party at the Republican National Convention. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will have to select a running mate who can go toe-to-toe with Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s selection for vice president.
The president’s decision came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) both privately met with him to air their concerns that the party could suffer a rounding defeat across the board in November should he stay in the race. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also spoke with Biden to share troubling polling that showed his inability to defeat Trump.
Coupled with other figures that showed nearly two-thirds of Democrats wanted him to withdraw, Biden said he would do so for the good of the party.
AP Photo/John Bazemore, File
Years of planning will now be moot and Democratic delegates will need to rally around a new candidate in August, with mere months to go until the election.
While Biden can endorse another candidate to be his successor, once he releases his pledged delegates they are free to nominate whoever they see fit at an open convention.
Vice President Kamala Harris will be a top contender and could offer continuity, and she has been polling well in a potential matchup against Trump. Other candidates could include California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and past hopefuls like Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.).
Republicans across the board used their airtime at the RNC to savage Harris’ role in the White House, seeking to cast her as the Biden administration’s “border czar.” The vice president was not, in fact, appointed to any such post or tasked with solving the border crisis. But it’s shown how the GOP is already laying the groundwork to attack her on issues that they’ve been blaming on Biden.
Biden’s decision will also upend Trump’s own bid for reelection as he’s forced to face off against a new and likely younger opponent. He has maintained he will beat any Democrat the party puts forward.