United States President Joe Biden says in a letter on X he is stepping down as a candidate in the 2024 election, endorses Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
Dozens of congressional Democrats have publicly urged the 81-year-old to step aside after his shaky debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump, 78.
Did any Democrats stand with Biden’s continued candidacy?
Not all Democrats were pushing for Biden to exit the race. He drew support from some unlikely corners.
Several high-profile progressives took to the centrist president’s defence, despite speaking out against his position on Israel’s war in Gaza and other issues.
Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance, wrote in the New York Times earlier this month that the frenzy surrounding Biden had amounted to a “circular firing squad”.
“Mr Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate,” he wrote. “It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking.”
Biden also drew support from the party’s centre, including from California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of his proxies on the campaign trail. “I’m all in, no daylight,” Newsom said in an interview last week with CBS
Trump says ‘crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President’
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reacted to the news of Biden dropping out of the race.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve”, he wrote on Truth Social.
“All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t,” Trump said, repeating his claims that Biden’s presidency enabled millions of people to cross the border into the US unchecked.
“We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” Trump, Biden’s predecessor, added.