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U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday stunningly ended his 2024 reelection bid against former President Donald Trump.
The 81-year-old Biden, with declining national polling numbers against the Republican challenger he defeated in the 2020 election, made the announcement as he was recovering from his third bout with COVID-19 at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, vacation home near the Atlantic Ocean.
He endorsed his second-in-command, Vice President Kamala Harris, to be the Democratic presidential nominee to run against Trump in the November 5 election. She would be the first Black woman and South Asian major party presidential nominee in the 248-year history of the United States.
A growing number of Democratic leaders had in recent days called for Biden to step down since his faltering debate performance against Trump in late June.
But Biden, a five-decade veteran on the Washington political scene, had insisted he would not drop out unless "the Lord Almighty" asked him to or if he was shown in polling numbers that he could not beat Trump a second time or advised by his doctors he was not physically able to continue.
On Sunday, he said in a statement, "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 reminder of my term," which ends in January.
Biden said Harris has been an "extraordinary partner" and has his "full support and endorsement" to be "the nominee of our party this year." Biden said he would speak to the country later in the week about his decision.
Harris, a former senator from the country's most populous state, California, until Biden picked her in 2020 as his vice presidential running mate, immediately said she would seek the party's 2024 presidential nomination.
Her approval ratings in national surveys have largely reflected Biden's and her own campaign in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary fell apart before voting began.
But a few recent presidential surveys have showed the 59-year-old Harris faring slightly better than Biden against Trump. Sometimes, but not always, she polled ahead of the 78-year-old Trump.
Harris said in a statement that Biden, by withdrawing from the race against Trump, "is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else."
"I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party - and unite our nation - to defeat Donald Trump ...," she said. "We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win."
Even as Biden ended his campaign, Trump assailed him on social media, saying, "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!"
Numerous Republican lawmakers, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, who is second in the presidential line of succession behind Harris, called on Biden to resign, claiming that if he is unfit to keep his candidacy alive for another four-year term, he also is unfit to remain as president for nearly another six months.
"If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough," Johnson, a Trump ally, said in a statement on the X social media platform.
If that were to happen, Harris would immediately be sworn in as the country's 47th president, at least until next January 20, pending results of the election.
The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, called Biden "one of the most accomplished and consequential leaders in American history."
"America is a better place today because President Joe Biden has led us with intellect, grace and dignity," Jeffries said in a statement. "We are forever grateful."
Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who earlier this month said he believed Trump could win the 2024 election "by a landslide" if Biden stayed in the race, on Sunday thanked Biden for his service and praised his record in office.]
"We owe President Biden a debt of gratitude," Bennet wrote on X, adding that by withdrawing, Biden had given Democrats a "chance to beat Donald Trump."
Many Democratic Party officials have said they support Harris to replace Biden as the party's standard-bearer against Trump in the race for a new four-year presidential term. But it is not clear what will happen in the coming days.
There are two ways for Democrats to replace Biden as the party's standard-bearer.
One would be a virtual vote among delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month in Chicago that would lock in a new nominee in early August. Chances are this process would favor Harris, avoiding conflict at the convention in front of a national television audience.
At least 12 of the 51 Democratic senators, which includes four independents who vote with the Democrats, immediately endorsed Harris, and more are likely to follow.
One of them, Patty Murray of the Western state of Washington, said, "We must beat Donald Trump - and I know Kamala Harris can win." Murray said in a statement that she supports Harris "100%."
A prominent liberal Democrat, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, praised Biden's "selfless decision" to drop out of the presidential race, and she endorsed Harris to take his place as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
The other way Democrats could pick a new nominee would be an "open" convention in which several candidates, including Harris, would seek the presidential nomination, a scenario the party hasn't experienced since 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson dropped his plans to run for reelection in face of widespread opposition to his handling of America's war against North Vietnam.
Such an open convention could throw the gathering into disarray if party delegates to the convention do not fall in line and support Biden's endorsement of Harris.
Names of other prominent Democrats have been floated as possible choices other than Harris, including several state governors, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gavin Newsom of California, among other party officials.
There was growing opposition among Democrats to Biden continuing his candidacy, with more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers calling for him to withdraw after his June 27 debate showing in which he fumbled answers to questions from two CNN moderators. He often appeared to lose his train of thought, failing to forcefully press his case against Trump or defend his own 3½-year tenure in the White House.
Some people who had been with Biden recently said they believed his mental acuity was diminishing and that he appeared to be frail, although his staunchest aides insisted that he remained mentally sharp.
His single term as president will end January 20, 2025, when a new president is sworn in for a term that lasts until January 2029.