President Joe Biden has decided not to seek re-election, having failed to salvage his campaign after a disastrous debate performance on June 27 and a series of televised gaffes.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a statement released on Sunday. “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.”
Biden said he will “speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about [his] decision.”
In a separate statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Biden announced that he his offering his “full support and endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate.
“Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump,” he concluded. “Let’s do this.”
Biden faced public pressure from figures in the Democratic Party as well as Hollywood donors after he stumbled through the CNN debate, in which he failed to counter points made by former President Donald Trump, fumbling his words and often drifting off mid-thought.
Biden was trailing Trump before the debate, and many polls showed him losing ground afterward. Many of his donors and supporters expressed concern about his ability to sustain a campaign, and some elected officials publicly called for him to step aside.
George Clooney, who co-hosted the single largest fundraiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, wrote a July 10 op-ed in The New York Times calling for the president to step down.
“We are not going to win in November with this president … this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly,” Clooney wrote.
The president also faced pressure from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to reporting from CNN and ABC News.
The president had sought to reassure Democrats that the debate was simply one bad performance. At a fundraiser in Virginia on July 2, he chalked it up to failing to get enough rest after an overseas trip, though the trip was more than a week before the debate.
He also did a sit-down interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and NBC’s Lester Holt to try to stop the bleeding. On July 11, he did a press conference at the NATO summit that was intended to calm fears about his ability to speak off the cuff. But he inadvertently referred to Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
In another miscue at the summit, he mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin.”
Biden was asked in an interview on BET on July 16 whether anything would make him reconsider.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged,” he said. “If doctors came to me and said, ‘You got this problem, that problem.’”
He was diagnosed with COVID-19 the following day.
For months, the president’s staff have swatted away concerns about his age and stamina, saying that he remained forceful in private meetings and kept up a withering schedule that wore out his staff. But his verbal slip-ups in public have grown increasingly frequent, and his voice sometimes trailed to a whisper.
This marks the first time since 1968 that a president opted not to seek re-election. That year, President Lyndon Johnson withdrew in late March, two weeks after an underwhelming performance in the New Hampshire primary. His vice president, Hubert Humphrey, won the nomination at the Democratic convention in Chicago, and lost the general election to Richard Nixon.
This year’s convention will be held in Chicago on Aug. 19-22.
Read Biden’s full statement below:
My Fellow Americans,
Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation.
Today America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding out Nation, in lowering prescription drug cost for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans. We’ve provided critically needed care to a million veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court. And passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world. America has never been better positioned to lead than we are today.
I know none of this could have been without you, the American people. Together, we overcame a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.
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.
I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.
For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked to hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.
I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.
UPDATE: Former President Obama issued a lengthy statement on Biden’s decision not to seek re-election, but didn’t outright endorse Harris for the new ticket.
Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded – again – that he’s a patriot of the highest order.
Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts.
Since taking office, President Biden has displayed that character again and again. He helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits. Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine.
More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration. Through his policies and his example, Joe has reminded us of who we are at our best — a country committed to old-fashioned values like trust and honesty, kindness and hard work; a country that believes in democracy, rule of law, and accountability; a country that insists that everyone, no matter who they are, has a voice and deserves a chance at a better life.
This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.
I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.
We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.
For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.
From Variety US