Why Did Joe Biden Drop Out of the 2024 US Presidential Race?

Washington: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Sunday, July 21, announced that he is dropping his reelection bid against Republican nominee Donald Trump in the upcoming November election, causing significant ripples across the country's political landscape. Following this decision, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democrats' new presidential candidate.

The announcement was made in a post on X, where Biden said, "My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made."

Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race comes amid his poor performance against Trump in the debate, where the Republican candidate took sharp jibes calling him "unfit" to compete for another term as the president.

As per US media reports, Biden's decision to quit the race came over the weekend after he held one-to-one meetings with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, and his campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.

Sources told Reuters that  Biden had a "last-minute change of heart," and up until Saturday night, he had no intention to drop out of the race.

But Why Did Biden End Reelection Bid?

The calls for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race after his poor performance in the first presidential debate against Trump in June. Though Biden blamed his performance on jet lag and international travel, the Democrat Party urged him to drop out of the race. As many as 36 congressional Democrats - more than one in eight - publicly called on him to drop out, driven by concerns over his mental acuity, Reuters reported.

Lawmakers from the ruling party also expressed discontent with the 81-year-old candidate continuing on his reelection bid, saying that they feared that the US president if elected again, could cost them not only the White House but also the chance to control either chamber of Congress next year.

The Opposition also continued to campaign urging Biden to quit the race calling him 'too old' and 'unfit' for governing the country if re-elected.

Age Catching Up?

After the debate was televised, people across the world shared their concerns after the octogenarian struggled to recall words and facts.

Owing to his health troubles, Biden's inability to land an argument against his opponent and former US President Donald Trump was deeply concerning for his fellow Americans, which only aggravated the concerns rather than dispelling them.

Biden, who had assured voters of his good health, mistakenly referred to Rep. Debbie Dingell as "Debbie Haley" instead of her correct name. That's just not it, during the NATO Summit, while introducing Ukrainian President Volodmyrr Zelensky, Biden called him 'President Putin" before quickly correcting himself.

In another instance, Biden accidentally referred to Harris as "Vice President Trump."