President Biden announced Sunday that he is dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee, upending the 2024 campaign and hurtling Democrats toward a complicated and potentially divisive process to replace him.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Mr. Biden wrote in a letter to the American people posted to social media. “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.”
In a separate post, he offered his “full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
Democratic heavyweights quickly came out in support of Harris as Mr. Biden’s replacement, with Bill and Hillary Clinton and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Patty Murray among those saying she should take his place. Others, like former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, praised Mr. Biden but held off on endorsing Harris.
Harris herself soon confirmed that she will seek the party’s nomination, saying in a written statement that she intends to “earn and win” the party’s support.
The delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago will ultimately vote on who becomes the party’s nominee. Democrats planned to hold a virtual vote before in the first week in August, but whether that goes forward now remains to be seen. The convention is slated to begin on Aug. 19.
The decision to step down comes after Mr. Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate at the end of June, which left many members of his own party questioning whether he was capable of defeating former President Donald Trump in November and serving a second four-year term. Pressure soon grew for him to step aside, with an increasing number of party leaders and Democratic lawmakers openly musing about replacing him on the ticket.
Follow live updates on the reaction to Mr. Biden’s decision to step aside, and what happens next: