Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race, after facing continuous pressure from the Democratic Party to pave the way for a new presidential candidate, just months before the November election.
This move comes after a disastrous debate with Republican rival and former President Donald Trump in late June that exposed the 81-year-old Democratic president’s mental acuity. In his first major interview after the debate, on July 5, Biden told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that only the “Lord Almighty” could cast him from the race.
Biden’s U-Turn
Biden, who has been recovering from Covid-19 at his beach house in Delaware, initially planned to continue his campaign, according to BBC. His aides were actively preparing a campaign schedule for his return to the White House. However, by Saturday evening, Biden began to reconsider his candidacy, engaging in discussions with close advisers as they reviewed polling data and the current political landscape.
On Sunday, Biden made the final decision to withdraw, informing key figures such as Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, and Vice President Kamala Harris. He held a video call with senior staff before publicly announcing his exit shortly thereafter.
What Led To Change?
Biden gave most of his aides a mere moment’s notice of his decision to quit the race for reelection on Sunday after an agonizing 48 hours poring over polling data which showed his path to victory was closing, Reuters reported, citing two sources. Only the day before, Biden was telling many aides that he would continue campaigning to defeat Trump in November. After digesting the polling data late on Saturday, Biden changed his mind.
Biden gathered his senior White House and campaign team for a call shortly before 1:45 pm (local time) on Sunday and moments later made his announcement public in a letter to all Americans. According to some reports, top aides showed Biden internal polling with the jarring news on Saturday night that he was not just trailing in all six key swing states that could decide the election but also collapsing in places like Virginia and Minnesota.
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After the lackluster debate in Atlanta, Biden began losing ground to Trump in battleground states, and Biden’s campaign was pursuing a razor-thin path to reelection. The US president had been particularly frustrated at former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Biden advisers believed was orchestrating a pressure campaign to get him to stand down. Hours before the announcement, the Biden campaign denied reports he was planning to drop out.
“It is false. And I think that it is false to continue to try to gin up this narrative,” Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks told MSNBC’s “The Weekend” on Sunday morning. However, US political analysts argue that there were plenty of signs Biden was doing some soul-searching and had been thinking about pulling out for several days.
(With agency inputs)
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