President Joe Biden has announced his withdrawal from the 2024 US presidential election race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee. This comes after fellow Democrats doubted Biden’s ability to beat Republican candidate Donald Trump following the first debate.

In a letter addressed to the American people on Sunday, Biden, 81, expressed his gratitude for the honour of serving as president, stating, “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president.”

Despite his initial desire to run for re-election, Biden ultimately decided that stepping aside would be in the best interest of the party and the nation.

“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,”

Biden assured the nation that he will address the country later this week to provide further details on his decision. “I will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”

He thanked all those who have “worked hard” to see him reelected. “I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work,” Biden said and thanked the American people for the trust they placed in him.

The letter was followed by another social media post where he expressed his support for Kamala.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” he said.

According to the US president, it was his “best decision” to pick Kamala as his vice president.

Shaky performance at debate

The incumbent US president Joe Biden delivered a shaky performance while his Republican rival Donald Trump battered him with a series of often false attacks at their debate on June 27.

The two men traded barbs on abortion, immigration, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, their handling of the economy and even their golf games as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.

Biden was seen struggling to give answers to some of the questions at the debate as some of the Democrats defended his performance by blaming exhaustion and bad preparation.

But neither Biden nor Trump is popular and many Americans remain deeply ambivalent about their choices. About a fifth of voters say they have not picked a candidate, are leaning toward a third-party candidate or may sit the election out, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Still, Biden did not consider dropping out of the race and intended to defeat Trump.

Trump rally shooting

Three weeks later, Donald Trump was shot in the ear in an attempted assassination during a campaign rally. He quickly emerged from the scrum, his face streaked with blood, and pumped his fist in the air, mouthing the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The Trump campaign later said he was “doing well” and appeared to have suffered no major injury besides a wound on his upper right ear.

Many experts believed that the incident made him popular among the people and is expected to get a sympathy vote.

“I believe today Donald Trump has won the November 5 election because he did not panic when he was picked up after the attack and showed a fist, saying ‘fight, fight, fight’,” PML-N Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed said while appearing on Aaj News show Rubaroo on Sunday.

“He showed bravery and he will get a sympathy vote. Like, out country Trump supporters will see a conspiracy behind it. The attack is condemnable but it will politically benefit him.”

Biden test positive for Covid

Earlier this week, Biden tested positive for Covid-19 while visiting Las Vegas. He was self-isolating after experiencing mild symptoms.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced the positive test for the 81-year-old Democrat after Biden cancelled a speech due to the diagnosis.

“He is vaccinated and boosted and experiencing mild symptoms, Jean-Pierre said.

Kamala top choice to replace Biden

Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to replace US President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, Reuters reported while citing seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic.

If named as the party nominee, Harris, 59, would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, the sources said. She also has the highest name recognition among all the alternatives, and the highest polling among Democrats who could seriously be considered a candidate, the sources said.

On Sunday, Representative Mark Takano explicitly endorsed Kamala as Biden’s successor. He argued that she is “best equipped to meet the demands of a modern campaign” and can seamlessly transition into the role of Democratic nominee.