US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday (21) that he will not run for re-election against former President Donald Trump. In an official statement, Biden said he believed that withdrawing would be the best thing to do for his party and the country. He also offered support for Vice President Kamala Harris to be nominated by the Democratic Party as his candidate in his place.
Biden had been under pressure to resign from his candidacy since his last debate with Republican Donald Trump, where he showed signs of great physical and mental weakness. Even supporters and important members of the Democratic Party began calling for the president to withdraw, as he had promised to run in the December elections. On Saturday, Biden’s campaign team assured that the president would resume campaign travel as soon as he recovered from Covid-19.
In the statement released on Sunday, Biden mentioned alleged achievements during his three and a half years in office, Biden mentioned important milestones of his administration, such as reducing the cost of medicines for the elderly, providing critical care to veterans exposed to toxic substances, passing the first gun safety law in 30 years, appointing the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court and implementing the most significant climate legislation in history.
The president also expressed gratitude to the American people, saying that the progress was only possible thanks to unity and collective effort to overcome challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis, according to Biden the “most severe since the Great Depression”.
After the announcement, Trump told CNN that Biden will be remembered as “the worst president ever in the history of our country.” On the social network Truth Social, the Republican Party candidate wrote that the current president “was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve in office.”
“He only got to the position of President through lies, fake news and without leaving his basement,” Trump wrote, referring to the Democrat’s choice during the 2020 campaign not to hold rallies because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Members of the Republican Party have begun demanding Biden’s resignation as President of the United States.
Kamala Harris
In the statement, the Democratic president did not give many details about the reason for his resignation, but reiterated that he believes it is in the “best interests of his party and the country.” Biden said he will focus exclusively on fulfilling his presidential duties until the end of his term.
Biden also thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for her “extraordinary partnership.” In the X, Biden wrote that the best decision he made as the party’s nominee in 2020 was choosing Kamala Harris as my vice president and named her as his successor in the presidential race. “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats – it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do it,” he wrote.
A few hours after Biden’s announcement, Kamala declared that her intention “is to deserve and win the nomination” of the Democratic Party to be the official candidate for president of the United States.
Read Biden’s full withdrawal letter
Dear American Friends,
Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a nation.
Today, the United States has the strongest economy in the world. We have made historic investments in rebuilding our nation, reducing prescription drug costs for seniors, and expanding access to affordable health care for a record number of Americans. We have provided critically needed care to one million veterans exposed to toxic substances. We have passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. We have appointed the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court. And we have passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world. The United States has never been in a better position to lead than we are today.
I know none of this could have been done without you, the American people. Together, we overcame a century-long pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We protected and preserved our democracy. And we revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.
It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country that I not run and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.
I will address the nation later this week with more details about my decision.
For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to everyone who worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all of this work. And let me express my sincere appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust they have placed in me.
I believe today what I have always believed: that there is nothing the United States cannot do – when we do it together. We just need to remember that we are the United States of America.
Joe Biden