President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, according to the Guardian.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” he said in a letter posted on X.
“And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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.”
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
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Biden had been under increasing pressure from Democrats to quit the race after a disastrous debate performance in June.
Multiple donors have threatened to withhold contributions unless Biden dropped out, a step he had said multiple times before Sunday that he would not take.
Biden is the first incumbent not to seek re-election in 56 years. That took place in 1968, when President Lyndon Johson gave up his bid for a second term, according to The New York Times.
Will Kamala Harris be the Democratic presidential nominee?
It was unclear Sunday what process will be used to select the Democratic Party’s nominee.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held beginning Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Last week, journalist Mark Halperin said the convention will have options, according to a video posted to X.
He said Democrats were likely to have an “open process in which the convention will be open to Vice President Harris and a few other candidates,” he said.
“The belief is that Vice President Harris is already looking at potential running mates to go to Chicago with a full ticket, including one possibility, Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, and perhaps the governor of Pennsylvania, Gov. [Josh] Shapiro,” he said.
NEW — “According to my sources, President Biden agreed to step down as the Democratic nominee. It will happen as early as this weekend…”
– Mark Halperin on Newsmax just now pic.twitter.com/89vkN7VV0Q
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 18, 2024
Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan are also being discussed, he said.
Halperin said the deal being cut would allow an open first ballot at the convention, with Democratic Super Delegates making the selection if no first-ballot winner emerges.
Halperin said the “high-level pressure from Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and others” was one factor pushing Biden out, as well as information from his aides that he was likely to lose to former President Donald Trump.
According to CBS, former President Donald Trump has called Biden the “worst president by far in the history of our country,” but also said he believed Harris would be easier to defeat.
