Biden announces he will ‘stand down’ from election to focus solely on Presidential duties.Lumen/Mixed
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00:00President Joe Biden announced he will be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race in a statement posted to X on Sunday afternoon.
00:07In the statement, the president said,
00:09It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president.
00:13And while it has been my intention to seek re-election,
00:16I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down
00:20and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.
00:26The announcement came after 37 Democratic and independent lawmakers
00:30publicly called for the president to pass the torch to a different candidate.
00:33Several influential Democrats, including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer,
00:38reportedly called on Biden to drop out in private.
00:42The calls to drop out from within his own party followed Biden's disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
00:48In a separate announcement, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.
00:52I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year, he said.
00:57Biden is currently self-isolating at his beach house in Delaware after contracting COVID-19.
01:04He will address the nation later this week.