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United States President, Joe Biden, has dropped out of the race to contest for office for a second term in the November 5, 2024 US elections.
Biden announced his decision not to seek re-election into the Oval Office in a statement posted on his X on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
The President said he believes the move is in his country's best interest and would allow him to focus on fulfilling his duties for the remainder of his term.
"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," the statement partly read.
This is coming barely one month after Biden dropped a series of clangers during the famous Presidential debate against his predecessor and Republican candidate, Donald Trump.
The President's abysmal outing at the debate rattled his supporters, prompting several members of his Democratic Party to call for his withdrawal from the race as polling results continued to favour Trump.
Biden has remained adamant that he's mentally and physically fit to stand the election and staged campaign events and media appearances to reassure his weary fanbase.
Biden bows to pressure from Democrats
However, his party members sustained the call for his withdrawal, with over 30 Senate and Congress Democrats publicly trumpeting the idea.
In his statement on Sunday, Biden said it's the greatest honour of his life to serve the American people and had wished to do so for another term.
He also promised to address the nation later in the week to provide a more detailed explanation of his decision.
The President travelled to his home in Delaware last week to isolate and recover after testing positive for Covid-19.
He's expected to attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC) slated for Monday, August 19, 2024, where he had been billed to accept his party's nomination.
Biden nominates Harris
A few moments after announcing his withdrawal, Biden also announced his endorsement of his Vice, Kamala Harris, to be the nominee of the Democratic Party in the upcoming convention.
He disclosed this in a post on his X on Sunday, where he also rallied party members to come together and ensure that Trump isn't re-elected.
"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.
"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.
"Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this," Biden wrote.