WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden fell out of race 2024 to the White House on Sunday, ending his re-election bid after a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised questions on his fitness for office just 4 months before the election.

The decision comes after mounting pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step down. debate on June 27wherein the 81-year-old president was speechless, often gave nonsensical answers and ignored the previous president many falsehoodsBiden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to tackle Trump and encouraged his party to unite behind her.

Biden plans to complete his term, which ends on January 20, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it was my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and country for me to step down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote within the letter posted on his X account.

Nearly half-hour later, Biden endorsed Harris, the party’s favorite for the nomination. its August convention in Chicago.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year,” he said in one other post on X. “Democrats — it’s time to unite and defeat Trump.”

Biden’s decision got here as he isolated himself at his Delaware beach home after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, chatting with a shrinking circle of close confidantes and relations about his political future. Biden said he would address the nation later this week to stipulate “the details” of his decision.

The White House confirmed the authenticity of the letter.

The announcement is the newest boost to the White House campaign, which each political parties see as crucial election in generations, happening just days after assassination attempt Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

The party’s presumptive presidential nominee has never dropped out of the race so near the election. The closest parallel could be President Lyndon Johnson, who, besieged by the Vietnam War, announced in March 1968 that he wouldn’t seek one other term.

Now, Democrats must urgently attempt to inject coherence into the nominating process in a matter of weeks and persuade voters in a remarkably short time that their candidate can do the job and beat Trump. And Trump, for his part, must shift his focus to a brand new opponent after years of specializing in Biden.

The decision marks a swift and shocking end to Biden’s 52 years in electoral politics, as donors, legislators and even assistants expressed doubts about whether he would have the ability to persuade voters that he would have the ability to credibly hold office for one more 4 years.

Biden won the overwhelming majority of delegates AND every nomination contest, except onewhich might make his nomination a formality. Now that he has withdrawn, delegates will probably be free to support one other candidate.

Harris, 59, seemed a natural successor, largely because she is the one candidate who can directly draw on Biden’s campaign funds under federal campaign finance rules.

Biden’s support clears the best way for Harris, but a smooth transition of power is way from certain.

Democratic National Convention is scheduled to happen from August 19 to 22 in Chicago, however the party announced that it is going to virtual roll call formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin.

The query remained whether other candidates would challenge Harris for the nomination, in addition to how the party would should readjust its rules to make it easier for Harris to be nominated.

In 2020, Biden portrayed himself as a transitional figure who desired to be a bridge to a brand new generation of leaders. But once he won the job he had fought for many years to earn, he was reluctant to part with it.

Biden was once asked whether other Democrats could defeat Trump.

“Probably 50 of them,” Biden replied. “No, I’m not the only one who can beat him, but I will beat him.”

Biden is already the country’s oldest president and has repeatedly said he is prepared for the challenge of one other campaign and one other term, telling voters all they should do is “look at me.”

And they watched him. His poor performance in the controversy sent shockwaves of concern through Democrats and donors, who said publicly what some had been saying privately for months — that they believed he wouldn’t have the ability to serve one other 4 years within the job.

Concerns about Biden’s age have dogged him since he announced his run for re-electionAlthough Trump is just three years younger, he’s 78 years old. Most Americans see the president as too old for a second termin accordance with a survey from August 2023 Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center. Most of them too I doubt his mental abilities grow to be president, although this can also be Trump’s weakness.

Biden has often emphasized that he shouldn’t be as young as he was, that he not walks as calmly or speaks as fluently, but he is sensible and has many years of experience behind him which might be very beneficial.

“I give you my word as Biden. I would not run again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job,” he told supporters at a rally in North Carolina the day after the controversy. “Because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high.”

But voters had other problems with him, too — he was deeply unpopular as a frontrunner at the same time as his administration steered the country through a worldwide pandemic, presided over a booming economy and passed major bipartisan laws that may impact the country for years to return. Most Americans I do not approve of the best way he does his joband stays consistently low on key issues, including the economy and immigration.

Biden’s age proved to be a significant component within the investigation into his way of coping with secret documents. Special counsel Robert Hur said in February that the president got here across in interviews with investigators as “a likeable, well-meaning, older man with a poor memory.”

The president’s allies called the statement baseless and criticized Hur for including it in his report, in addition to Biden himself. he pushed it away angrily in regards to the descriptions of how he spoke about his dead son.

Biden’s motivation to run was deeply tied to Trump. He left public service after eight years as vice chairman under Barack Obama and the death of his son Beau, but I made a decision to run following Trump’s comments following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when white supremacists got here to town to protest the removal of Confederate monuments.

Trump said: “You had some very bad people in the group, but you also had people who were very good people on both sides. On both sides.”

The proven fact that the sitting president has not unequivocally condemned racism and white supremacy deeply offended Biden. Then, Biden won the 2020 election. and Trump refused to confess it and stood idly by for hours, his supporters stormed the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, he beat and maimed law enforcement officers in an unsuccessful try to overturn the certification of Biden’s victory.

“If Trump hadn’t run, I’m not sure I would have run,” Biden once said at a campaign rally.

Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, but he and his team have made clear they like to face Biden.

Despite Trump’s clear desire to confront Biden, Trump’s campaign has also stepped up attacks on Harris, and pressure on Biden to concede has intensified in recent weeks.