Biden withdraws from 2024 race citing unattainable victory
According to information from Reuters, Joe Biden was still planning to run for reelection late Saturday night into Sunday. However, the president changed his mind in the middle of the night.
5:22 AM EDT, July 22, 2024
"During the night, the message was to keep everything going, full speed ahead," one of the sources said, requesting anonymity. "Around 1:45 AM ET, the president told his senior team that he had changed his mind," the source added.
Biden reached this decision over 48 hours ago, according to two sources, after analyzing data and polls that showed his victory was largely unattainable. He struggled with making this decision, but a senior White House official said once he decided, he acted quickly.
Before announcing his decision on Sunday, Biden spoke many times with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Just before 1:45 AM ET, Biden, who has been staying at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware since Wednesday due to a coronavirus infection, called his aides to a teleconference. He informed them of his decision by reading a letter that he soon published.
"He read us the letter and wanted us to understand his reasoning. He said he had been wrestling with this decision for the last 48 hours," the source said.
Biden made a decision
Joe Biden announced on Sunday on the platform X that he is withdrawing from the race for President of the United States. He announced an address to the nation, where he would explain his decision and declared that he would fulfill his duties until the end of his term.
On Sunday, Biden published a statement on X, writing that Americans "have made huge progress as a nation over the last three and a half years."
He added that he will address the nation this week to explain his decision.
