Biden drops out of 2024 election, endorses VP Harris
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Joe Biden announced Sunday he’s bowing out of the 2024 Presidential race.
Biden made the announcement on X, saying in part, “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 followed up with another post fully endorsing current Vice President Kamala Harris to run in his place.
A shaky debate performance on June 27th set in motion a series of events that destabilized the Biden re-election campaign.
In an effort to do immediate damage control, the President agreed to a sit-down interview with George Stephanopoulos one week later.
“If the Lord almighty said, Joe get out of the race, I’d get out of the race, but Lord almighty’s not coming down,” President Biden said during his 22-minute interview with Stephanopoulos.
The interview did little to quell the growing anxiety in the party, with several Congressmembers calling for the President to bow out.
“The President of the United States doesn’t have the vigor necessary to overcome the deficit,” Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) said.
Then, celebrities got involved - with friend and mega-donor George Clooney penning an op-ed in the New York Times saying the President was unfit to serve another term.
On July 11th, following the NATO summit in Washington D.C., President Biden put himself in the hot seat with his first solo-press conference in 8 months.
The attempt to show off his acumen for foreign policy was eclipsed by two gaffes; referring to Harris as “President Donald Trump,” and referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Vladimir Putin.”
The redemption tour continued, despite a growing chorus of member of his own party calling for a replacement.
On Saturday, July 13, former President Donald Trump was targeted in an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, PA.
The assassination attempt catapulted support for Trump, while forcing many to take a hard look not just at Biden’s viability as a candidate, but the survivability of the party with important House and Senate races at stake.
In the days after the attempted assassination, reports grew of high ranking democrats -- including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama -- asking for intervention.
The Democratic National Convention, where a candidate will officially become the nominee, starts August 19 in Chicago.
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