After months of speculation US President Biden drops out of US presidential race and endorses Kamala Harris.
Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory.
President Biden drops out of US presidential race
Biden, in a post on X, said he will remain in his role as president and commander-in-chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week.
“It has been the greatest honour 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 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,” Biden wrote.
What happens next in the US presidential race?
There would likely be a free-for-all of sorts between the Democratic heavyweights vying for the job.
Candidates would have to get signatures from 600 convention delegates to be nominated. There are expected to be some 4,672 delegates in 2024, including 3,933 pledged delegates and 739 automatic or superdelegates, according to Ballotpedia.
Who will be the Democratic nominee?
The Democrats are hoping to bypass the nomination process which could take up to 4 months. The campaign trail is midflow and unless they have a swift interaction they wont be able to challenge Trump. Especially, since it could take several rounds of voting for someone to get a majority and become the nominee.
Biden endorses Kamala Harris
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” he said.
By dropping his re-election bid, he clears the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket, the first Black woman to do so in the country’s history.
It was unclear whether other senior Democrats would challenge Harris for the party’s nomination, who was widely seen as the pick for many party officials — or whether the party itself would choose to open the field for nominations.
Biden’s historic move — the first sitting president to be ousted – although it looked as if President Biden drops out of US presidential race, and endorses Kamala Harris but he has been forced out by Democrats.
Biden is also the first sitting president to give up his party’s nomination for re-election since President Lyndon Johnson in March 1968 — leaves his replacement with less than four months to wage a campaign.
Is Biden unfit for office?
The question everyone is asking though, if the sitting president is unfit to stand for reelection then surely he must be unfit for the Office of the president as well.