President Joe Biden ends his 2024 bid, endorses Kamala Harris

President Biden announced Sunday that he is stepping aside as the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential contest and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party's nominee, according to a letter posted on his X account.

It's a seismic shift in the 2024 presidential race less than a month before the Democratic National Convention, set to start Aug. 19.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden wrote in the letter announcing his decision.

"And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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 he will speak to the nation "later this week in more detail" about his decision.

Biden, who has been in Rehoboth, Delaware, since last week recovering from COVID-19, faced intense pressure to withdraw from the race following his shaky debate performance on June 27 against former President Trump — after which elected Democrats, donors, and allies expressed urgent concerns about the 81-year-old president's candidacy.

The president participated in a redemption tour following the debate, appearing on major networks and at a NATO news conference and campaign events in key states — though it did not ultimately allay anxieties within his party.

Biden's campaign had asked for the debate, but his raspy voice, rambling answers and moments of confusion fueled concerns about his age and ability to serve another term. Trump was criticized for telling some 30 lies during the debate and failing to answer questions directly on his plans for a second term.

Trump, weeks after the debate, survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania that left the suspected shooter and an attendee dead.
Days later, he appeared triumphant at the Republican National Convention, where party loyalists united around him.

Privately, it had been expected Biden and a group of lifelong loyalists would decide his future in the presidential race, Axios' Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei report.

This group of internal advisers, which includes family members and long-term political advisers, are the same people who supported his 2020 White House run.

Biden, who previously served as vice president under former President Obama, will go down in history as the Democrat who beat Trump in 2020 after COVID devastated the country. He spent more than three decades in the Senate before joining a historic presidential ticket in 2008 and serving as former President Obama's vice president.

Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car accident just weeks after he was elected to serve in the Senate. His two young sons were injured.
Biden took his Senate oath of office from the hospital and throughout his career, he commuted by train from Delaware to Washington.
Biden married first lady Jill Biden in 1977. The couple have a daughter together, Ashley Biden.

During his third presidential bid in 2020, Biden selected as his running mate Harris, the nation's first woman and first Black and South Asian vice president.

Harris had also mounted a brief Democratic presidential bid in 2020 while serving as a U.S. senator from California. Previously, she was the state's attorney general.

U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign on Sunday followed a series of strategic missteps by his campaign team and White House aides that amplified concerns that the 81-year-old president wouldn't be able to win in November's election, or run the country for another four years.
Biden's halting performance at the June 27 presidential debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump, pushed even some of his closest allies to question whether he could endure a full campaign, and added gasoline to a smoldering Democratic party movement questioning the wisdom of his second term.
Within days, Biden went from the party's figurehead to a liability. He became the first sitting president to stand down from a possible reelection since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
These were some of the key moments that led to Biden's downfall.
THE DEBATE COUP: APRIL TO JUNE
Biden himself set the debate in motion after he told radio show host Howard Stern in April that he'd debate Trump, despite worries from some of his Democratic allies that a debate might do little to improve his chances or even cast an unflattering light on him.
Some Biden aides thought they had scored a coup in agreeing to a June debate. They worked with broadcaster CNN to shape the rules in what they thought was their favor and agreed on May 15 to two debates, including the first on June 27.
An earlier debate would serve Biden well, some aides thought, convincing voters that there was no other anti-Trump option in the race, but also cushioning the blow of any mediocre performance by the president.
The format - no audience to pump up Trump's punchlines, no third-party candidates, moderators they could trust, and a mute button on the microphones- would, they thought, favor Biden's style.
JET LAG - JUNE 4 TO 27
Biden flew to Europe twice and to the West Coast over 14 days before taking just a few days to rest at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Biden was tired and dragging by the end of the travel, according to several people who observed him during this period.
He and his aides headed to Camp David for focused prep sessions on June 21, where they peppered Biden with details, then followed up with mock debates for the better part of seven days.
A BAD NIGHT - JUNE 27
In CNN's Atlanta studios, Biden stumbled over his words and lost his train of thought. His delivery, appearance, and voice drew the immediate attention of reporters, who asked his aides for an explanation.
Officials told reporters as the debate was underway some new information: Biden was sick with a cold, they said.
Biden's hoarseness would improve as the debate went on but his disjointed answers took voters, donors, and Democratic officials by surprise. One Democratic strategist called it "a disaster."
Trump, 78, repeated a series of well-worn, glaring falsehoods during the 90-minute debate, including claims that he actually had won the 2020 election. Biden failed to refute them, leaving sentences and thoughts unfinished.
Trump jabbed Biden for being incoherent: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said."
FALLOUT - JUNE 27 TO JULY 2
"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," Biden said the day after the debate, admitting a poor performance. "Nearly fell asleep on stage," he said on July 2.
Calls for Biden to step down would start in the hours after the debate. Calls from Biden aides to worried Democrats facing reelection campaigns who saw their political futures flashing before their eyes, wouldn't start until days later.
Some lawmakers started to break ranks, starting with U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett on July 2, and then gathering steam.
Angry donors told Biden's aides they would need to see a turnaround in the candidate's performance. Senior Democrats and Biden allies also began to hint at changes to the ticket.
House of Representatives Democrat Jim Clyburn - a kingmaker of sorts within the Democratic Party who was instrumental in Biden's 2020 win - said on July 2 that he would back Vice President Kamala Harris if Biden did depart and suggested the idea of a "mini-primary" if Biden stepped aside.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime Biden ally, said it was legitimate to ask whether Biden's performance in Atlanta was an "episode" or a condition. She also hinted that Biden would need to examine his choice to say in the race.
THE DAM BREAKS - JULY 5 TO 8
Biden would fail to quiet the chorus of dissent.
In his first major interview after the debate, on July 5, Biden told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that only the "Lord Almighty" could cast him from the race.
More worrying to some Democrats, Biden said he could accept remaining in the race and losing to Trump "as long as I gave it my all and I did as good a job as I know I can do."
Thirty-six Democratic U.S. lawmakers and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats would ultimately call for Biden to step off the ticket over the 24 days that followed the debate.
NATO, POLLS - JULY 9 TO 12
Biden tried to move on. He gave interviews, held a press conference, and gave stern speeches on the campaign trail as well as at the NATO summit of U.S. allies.
But the events sometimes raised more concerns than they quieted.
At the NATO summit during the second week of July, Biden mixed up the names of his Vice President Harris and his Republican rival Trump, and those of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries are at war with each other.
Polls showed Biden trailing other Democrats in many of the key states and districts Democrats need to win in November, though polls nationwide continued to point to a close race.
Biden was unmoved, still believing he was the best candidate to face Trump, that he could rebound from this setback as he has so many times before, a view reinforced by a close circle of aides.
TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING - JULY 13
Trump was shot while giving a speech in Pennsylvania. The bullet grazed his ear and bloodied his face, and photos of the former president holding up his fist in defiance were shown widely.
Republicans spoke of divine providence, unifying around their candidate. Democrats worried that their own chances were cursed, seeing only a narrower path to any victory in November.
Days later, Biden got COVID while campaigning in Nevada. Recuperating at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home, he would be left with time, alone and in isolation, to decide whether and how to end his campaign.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will try to show swing voters that his likely new rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, has her fingerprints all over two issues he is counting on for victory in November: immigration and the cost of living.
Sources within the Trump campaign said it will cast Harris, the likely Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden quit the race on Sunday, as the "co-pilot" of administration policies it says are behind both sources of voter discontent.
Biden’s sudden exit and endorsement of Harris upended the race, just eight days after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally.
Sources told Reuters that Trump's campaign had for weeks been preparing for Harris should Biden drop out and she win her party's nomination.
"Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been," Trump told CNN shortly after Biden's announcement on Sunday.
Trump's campaign has signaled it will tie her as tightly as possible to Biden's immigration policy, which Republicans say is to blame for a sharp increase in the numbers of people crossing the southern border with Mexico illegally.
The second line of attack will revolve around the economy. Public opinion polls consistently show Americans are unhappy with high food and fuel costs as well as interest rates that have made buying a home less affordable.
"She's the co-pilot of the Biden vision," said one Trump adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity during last week’s Republican National Convention, where a unified party anointed Trump as its nominee in the White House race.
"If they want to switch to Biden 2.0 and have 'Cackling' Kamala at the top of the ticket, we're good either way," the adviser said, repeating an insult the campaign has been trying out for weeks focused on how the vice president laughs.
Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC backing Trump, said on Sunday it was pulling anti-Biden television ads that had been set to run in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania and replacing them with an ad attacking Harris.
The 30-second ad accuses Harris of hiding Biden's infirmity from the public, and it seeks to pin the administration's record solely on her. "Kamala knew Joe couldn't do the job, so she did it. Look what she got done: a border invasion, runaway inflation, the American Dream dead," the narrator says.
Trump, known for using insulting and sometimes offensive language to attack his opponents, gave supporters at a rally in Michigan on Saturday a taste of the insults he is likely to fling at Harris in the coming days.
"I call her laughing Kamala. Have you ever watched a laugh? She's crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. She's crazy. She's nuts," he said.
ALTERED RACE
The Democratic Party has yet to determine how to move forward, and there is as yet no guarantee that Harris will emerge as the party’s nominee despite Biden’s endorsement.
Harris as the Democratic nominee would alter the race in perhaps unforeseen ways, political strategists said.
A 59-year-old woman who is Black and Asian-American would fashion an entirely new dynamic with Trump, 78, offering a vivid generational and cultural split-screen. The United States has yet to elect a woman president in its 248-year history.
Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist and longtime congressional aide, said Harris would be able to mount "a more energetic campaign with excitement from younger voters and people of color" after Biden struggled to energize these important Democratic Party voting blocs.
A former prosecutor and California attorney general as well as a former U.S. senator, Harris would be able to use “her years of litigation experience to effectively prosecute Trump in the court of public opinion,” Mollineau said.
Chip Felkel, a Republican strategist, cautioned that it would be a mistake for the Trump campaign to assume Harris could serve as a simple stand-in for Biden, because of her potential appeal to different parts of the electorate.
Recent polls have shown Harris to be competitive with Trump. In a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, Harris and Trump were tied with 44% support each in a July 15-16 Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Before Sunday, the Trump campaign had already begun discussions about how they would redeploy campaign resources should Biden drop out of the race, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.
Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican political consultant, said despite the contrasts Harris would bring to the ticket, her close ties to Biden would be a drag on her candidacy.
Harris "doesn't represent the change America is looking for," Hoffman said.
MAGA Inc. CEO Taylor Budowich said his group has commissioned opposition research on several possible Democratic candidates. “MAGA Inc is prepared for all outcomes of a Democrat Party who has only brought chaos and failure,” he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris is being thrust into the most scrutinizing of spotlights, suddenly the leading candidate to succeed President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and her party’s main hope of defeating Republican Donald Trump.
She spoke multiple times with Biden on Sunday, according to people familiar with the conversations – a day after Biden huddled with his closest aides in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, as he began to conclude that he would end his reelection bid. About two hours after the surprise Sunday announcement from Biden, Harris released her own statement, making it clear she knew the nomination would not just be handed to her.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said. “Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead.”
Then Harris quickly got to work. She spent much of Sunday afternoon calling Democratic elected officials and delegates as she worked to lock up her party’s nomination. One call was with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Another was with Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairwoman Nanette Barragan, who emphasized that she was “all in” behind the vice president and urged donations on her behalf.
Barragán said she was caught in a moment of both sadness and excitement as she digested the news of Biden’s withdrawal. But in her call with Harris, the vice president stressed to her: “We’re in this to win it.”
Harris also communicated that she preferred to forego a virtual roll call for the nomination process and instead hold a process that adheres to regular order.
“This is the moment for us to unite and coalesce around the vice president and focus around Donald Trump,” Barragán said.
Harris also spoke with Rep. Annie Kuster, who leads the New Democrat Coalition, an influential bloc of center-left lawmakers. Kuster endorsed Harris on Sunday afternoon.
Notably, a handful of men who had already been discussed as potential running mates for Harris -– Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly –- also swiftly issued statements endorsing her. Aides to Shapiro and Cooper confirmed that Harris spoke with them Sunday afternoon. In her brief call with Cooper, the North Carolina governor told Harris that he was backing her to be the Democratic nominee, according to Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner.
Harris also quickly won endorsements from the leadership of several influential caucuses and political organizations, including the AAPI Victory Fund, which focuses on Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, The Collective PAC, focuses on building Black political power, and the Latino Victory Fund. While some Democrats remained silent on whom they want for a nominee, many others said the party should immediately assemble behind Harris, wanting to move past the painful, public deliberations that have marked the weeks since the July 27 Biden-Trump debate.
“Joe Biden is a great American, and we all owe him our immense gratitude for his service to our country as president, vice president, and senator,” Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., said. “There is no better person than Vice President Harris for him to pass the baton to.”
But there were early signs that she may not be alone in the Democratic race. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year to become an independent, is considering re-registering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president, according to Jonathan Kott, a longtime adviser to Manchin.
Harris had also yet to consolidate the party’s top heavyweights behind her. While former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed her even before she commented on Biden’s decision to quit the race, former President Barack Obama held off, merely pledging support behind the eventual party nominee.
Sunday evening, Harris issued her first fundraising email: “I am running to be President of the United States.”
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve alongside our Commander-in-Chief, my friend, President Joe Biden -- one of the finest public servants we will ever know,” she wrote in the solicitation. “And I am honored to have his support and endorsement. And I am eager to run on the record of what Joe and I have accomplished together.”
The campaign dollars were already coming in for Harris. The Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue said Sunday night that as of 9 p.m. Eastern time, small-dollar donors had contributed nearly $47 million since Harris announced her candidacy.
“Grassroots supporters are energized and excited to support her as the Democratic nominee,” the group said on X, the social media site.
But as she works to consolidate the party behind her, Harris still has her day job – when Biden has been sidelined due to a bout with COVID-19. Harris will host an event on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday with sports teams from across the country that won NCAA championships this year and is slated to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to Washington later this week. Harris also has a previously scheduled campaign swing to Milwaukee on Tuesday.