CASPER, Wyo. — President Joe Biden will not seek a second term, he announced Sunday via social media.
“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 stated in a letter posted to his account on X, formerly Twitter.
The announcement comes on the heels of a growing tally of Congressional Democrats who called on Biden to step back from his reelection bid.
Talks about his viability as a candidate began emerging in political circles following his performance in the first presidential debate with Donald Trump. During the debate, Biden appeared at many times to become confused, trailing off, struggling to make concise points and ending sentences abruptly. In one moment of the debate that has since gone viral on social media, the president seemed to become confused when speaking about healthcare, mentioning COVID-19 before going quiet for several seconds and then saying, “We finally beat Medicare.”
“Well he’s right, he did beat Medicare,” Trump said in response. “He beat it to death.”
Several liberal-leaning editorial boards — including those of The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Chicago Tribune — had also issued op-eds calling for Biden to bow out of the race.
In a follow-up post, Biden also officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic nominee.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” Biden wrote. “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.”
