Sunday, July 21, 2024

OnPolitics: Biden bows out

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On Politics

Sun Jul 21 2024

Marina Pitofsky | Associate Editor/Politics

Hi there OnPolitics readers. President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he's ending his bid for reelection amid intense pressure from Democratic leaders sounding the alarm that his path to beat former President Donald Trump in November had vanished.

The president's historic withdrawal throws the 2024 race − already roiled by a shocking attempt on Trump's life − into uncertain territory, with Vice President Kamala Harris widely seen as the Democrat most likely to take Biden's place atop the party's ticket.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden said in a letter addressed to Americans. "And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and my country for me to stand down and to focus solely on my duties as President for the rest of my term."

Biden's departure will soon mean the end of a five-decade career in Washington that began in 1972 with an upset victory for U.S. Senate in Delaware. He served as a senator for 36 years, then as former President Barack Obama's vice president from 2009 to 2017. Biden returned to public life to run against Trump in the 2020 presidential election

Live coverage: Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race and endorses Kamala Harris

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