President Joe Biden on Wednesday said abandoning his reelection campaign and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate was the best way to unite the country and save democracy, despite his ambition to win a second term.
Biden's announcement to end his presidential bid on Sunday followed a disastrous June debate with Donald Trump, which exacerbated questions about his ability to defeat the Republican candidate or to serve another four years if he succeeded.
In his address to the nation from the Oval Office, the 81-year-old president said he believed he deserved to be reelected based on his record during his first term.
"But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition," he said. "So I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the speech was "barely understandable and sooo bad!"
In the three days since Biden's decision, Harris has pulled in broad support across the Democratic Party and revitalized its election campaign. Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, would become the first woman elected president if she prevails on Nov. 5.
Biden praised Harris, 59, as a strong leader who would make an effective president.
"She's experienced, she's tough, she's capable. She's been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you the American people," he said.
Hours earlier, Trump tried to quash some of that momentum in an aggressive speech at a campaign rally, his first since Harris' emergence changed the race. "She is a radical Left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets elected," he said.
Trump routinely uses insults in attacking his opponents and made clear he planned to ignore advice that he takes a softer line. "I'm not gonna be nice!" he told his cheering supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, a battleground state where voting preferences can swing to either side.
The combative tone of his speech was a strong signal that three months of bare-knuckled campaigning lay ahead.
At her first campaign rally since Biden's endorsement, Harris on Tuesday showed her willingness to counter-punch, comparing her background as a prosecutor to his record as a convicted felon.
"Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?," she asked during the speech in Milwaukee.
At Trump's rally, the former president attacked Harris as a driving force in the Biden administration who should be held responsible for its policies on immigration and other issues.
[1/9]U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about his decision to drop his Democratic presidential reelection bid. Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS Evan Vucci/Pool via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
"As border czar, Kamala threw open our borders that allowed 20 million illegal aliens to stampede into our country from all over the world," said Trump, coming off a triumphant week in which his party unified around his presidential bid after a failed assassination attempt two weekends ago.
"I will terminate every single open border policy of the Biden-Harris administration and we will seal the border and we will stop Kamala Harris invasion without delay," he said.
Biden put Harris in charge of working with countries in Central America to help stem the tide of migration, but she was not given responsibility for border security nor was she named "border czar." She also has said she opposes open borders.
'PASS THE TORCH'
Biden, who for weeks resisted pressure from fellow Democrats to step aside, said in his address that he intended to focus on his work as president in the six months left in his term.
"That means I will continue to lower costs for hard-working families and grow our economy. I will keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights – from the right to vote – to the right to choose,” he said, outlining some themes that Harris is expected to build her campaign around.
The president returned to Washington on Tuesday afternoon after isolating with COVID at his home in Delaware, where he made the announcement that he was ending his campaign.
The Democratic National Committee's rules committee agreed on Wednesday on a plan to formally nominate Harris as soon as Aug. 1 - before the party's Aug. 19-22 convention in Chicago - with Harris picking a running mate by Aug. 7.
The Harris campaign on Wednesday said it has raised $126 million since Sunday, with 64% of donors making their first contribution of the 2024 campaign.
Earlier, the 59-year-old vice president called on a rally of more than 6,000 Black women in Indianapolis to help her revitalize the Democratic campaign.
Harris spoke at an event hosted by the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, which was founded at Howard University, the historically Black college she attended. She hopes to tap sororities' multi-generational network of Black women - who played an important role in Biden's 2020 victory - to deliver strong voter turnout for Democrats again in November.
"I thank you. And now, in this moment, our nation needs your leadership once again," Harris said.
Harris and Trump are running neck to neck, public opinion polls showed this week.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Tuesday showed Harris with a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Trump, 44% to 42%. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS showed Trump leading Harris, 49% to 46%. Both findings were within the polls' margins of error.
President Joe Biden delivered a solemn Oval Office address Wednesday that laid out in the clearest terms yet why he abandoned his reelection campaign.
He wanted to send an unmistakable warning about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump while anointing Vice President Kamala Harris as his natural successor, without invoking an overtly political tone that would have been out of step in the official setting of the White House. He was determined to show that he would not act like a lame-duck president, outlining an ambitious agenda that underscored his resolve to continue building on his legacy.
Here are key takeaways from Biden’s address:
He warned about Trump — without naming him
Biden did not mention Trump, his former Republican opponent, in his 10-minute Oval Office address — but he didn’t have to. The remarks were imbued with a deep sense of urgency about what the outgoing president saw as the stakes of the election.
The early part of his address sketched the choices that face voters in November — a contrast Biden himself had hoped to make during a reelection campaign that he ultimately decided he could not continue.
“Americans are going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” Biden said. “We have to decide — do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy.”
That last item — democracy — and defending it is “more important than any title,” Biden said.
Biden outlined a hefty to-do list for his final months
The president says he’s going to keep working over his final six months in office. He’s seeking to make the case for his legacy of sweeping domestic legislation and the renewal of alliances abroad.
His to-do list was full of weighty issues. He said he’d work to end the war in Gaza, bring home the hostages, and try “to bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war.” Biden meets Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He’s going to continue to work to lower costs for families and defend personal freedoms, keep calling out “hate and extremism” and push to end gun violence.
He also said he would continue to work on his initiative to end cancer as we know it and push for Supreme Court reforms.
“I’m going to keep working,” he said.
He is willingly handing off power to a new generation
Biden finally understood what Democrats had been telling him — that it was time to hand off power to a younger generation — and he embraced it, calling for “fresh voices, yes, younger voices” in politics.
“I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation,” he said, even as he believed his presidency was deserving of a second term.
For months, Biden insisted that only he could go up against Trump and win. But that changed following his debate with Trump on June 27, when he spoke haltingly, lost his train of thought, and failed to fact-check the former president’s falsehoods. The performance raised a chorus of questions about his age and ability to do the job another four years and pushed Democrats to increasingly call for him to step aside. The standoff dragged on for 24 days before Biden yielded, saying he needed to unify his party.
The tone and setting were solemn
Biden is not a stranger to the sober address, delivering remarks on weighty matters such as the fate of democracy and voting rights at historically significant landmarks across the country and around the globe.
But Biden has used the formal trappings of an Oval Office address — a tool used by presidents in times of national crisis or to capture a key moment in history — sparsely, with Wednesday’s speech marking just the fourth time that he has sat behind the Resolute Desk to speak directly to the nation.
His tone was solemn, the delivery careful and deliberate. He was surrounded by family and close aides as he gave an address willingly relinquishing power — one that no politician wants to make.
“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule — that people do,” Biden said as he closed his address. “History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands.”
Biden made a subtle push for his vice president
In the official setting of the Oval Office, Biden steered clear of overt political talk. But he still praised Vice President Kamala Harris as “tough” and “capable,” and gave a not-so-subtle push to voters.
“She’s been an incredible partner for her leadership, for our country,” he said. “Now the choice is up to you, the American people. ”
First Lady Jill Biden posted a hand-written note after the president’s speech thanking “those who never wavered, who refused to doubt.” She thanked supporters for putting their trust in the president. “Now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.”
Biden, aides say, knows that if Harris loses, he’ll be criticized for staying in the race too long and not giving her or another Democrat time to effectively mount a campaign against Trump. If she wins, she’ll ensure his policy victories are secured and expanded, and he’ll be remembered for a decision to step aside for the next generation of leadership.