Biden drops out, endorses Harris for president

President Joe Biden announces he will serve out his term, top Dems line up behind Harris

Letter from President Joe Biden announcing he will not seek re-election.

(Updated 8p ET)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Sunday he is ending race for the White House and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, 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 Sunday.

Biden’s announcement further throws the race for the White House in to chaos opening more questions about who will face the Republican ticket and how the Democrats will replace Biden on their ticket.

“We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win,” Harris said in a statement Sunday shortly after Biden’s announcement.

The Biden-Harris campaign also quickly filed the paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission declaring Harris’ bid and giving the vice president access to their campaign warchest.

Former president Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton quickly endorsed Harris for president. And a slew of other top Democrats, including Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner and California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell California Gov. Gavin Newsom endorsed Harris. But former president Barack Obama, while praising Biden for his decision, did not immediately throw his support to Harris.

The focus in the race for the White House now shifts to whether Harris will cement her position as the frontrunner to replace Biden on the ticket before Democrats gather in Chicago in four weeks or a virtual vote of the Democratic delegates occurs.

Behind the scenes, veteran Democrats who have spoken with 24sight News have been keeping a close watch on who Harris would select as her running mate should she sew up the nomination, with chatter among operatives and donors focusing on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as a means of unifying the party.

Top Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, newly anointed as the party’s nominee, quickly attacked Biden — insulting him and calling for him to step down as president.

“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!” Trump wrote in a public statement to his social media website. “He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, wrote on the Elon Musk website X.com that if Biden can’t run for re-election he shouldn’t continue serving as president.

“If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” Johnson said.

Biden’s decision capped a stunning four week stretch in American history starting from his disastrous performance at the first presidential debate. The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision expanding presidential powers by removing the threat of prosecution for “official acts” ratcheted up tensions. An assassination attempt on Trump last week helped unify much of the Republican Party behind Trump as he and running J.D. Vance were nominated as the party ticket.

Biden contracting Covid put the country on alert as pressure steadily mounted from Democratic lawmakers and top current and former party leaders for Biden to exit the race.

A series of high-stakes interviews and widely watched press event at the 75th anniversary of NATO could not abet concerns about Biden’s performance and standing with voters. And new polling steadily rolled in showing Trump running away with the race, particularly in the must-win Rust Belt states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

With Sunday’s announcement, Biden became the first sitting president not to accept his party’s nomination for re-election since Lyndon Baines Johnson pulled out of the 1968 in the heat of the Vietnam War.

Attention now moves to a potentially fluid nomination battle which will move fast as Democrats prepare for their convention, with just a few months until voting begins across the country and eventually wraps on November 5, Election Day.