US Election: Biden bows to pressure, endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic presidential nominee

US President Joe Biden said Sunday he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election after he dropped out of the race.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden said on X.

US President Joe Biden has announced dropping out of the presidential race after concerns that he was unlikely to beat Republican Nominee, Donald Trump.

Withdrawing from the race for the US presidency is an extraordinary decision that plunges the Democratic nomination into uncertainty just months before the November election against Donald Trump, a candidate he has warned is an existential threat to American democracy.

“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 focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a letter announcing his decision.

Though Biden thanked the vice-president, Kamala Harris, in his letter, he did not endorse her as his successor on the ticket. He said he planned to speak to the nation in more detail later this week.

But he took to the X handle to do the needful.

The president made the shocking announcement after a weeks-long pressure campaign by Democratic leaders, organizers and donors who increasingly saw no path to victory so long as the embattled incumbent remained on the ticket. A disastrous debate performance last month, and his uneven public appearances since, have only exacerbated longstanding voter concerns that the 81-year-old president was simply too old to serve another four years.

Biden’s decision to step aside from the race, though remain as president, caps a singular few weeks in American politics, the latest stunning episode in an unusually tumultuous election season. Trump, the former president and Republican nominee, narrowly survived an attempt on his life during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that bloodied his ear and left one spectator dead. Biden, after appealing for calm in the wake of attack, had returned to the campaign trail last week determined to salvage his candidacy and once again prove his doubters wrong.