--- title: Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris description: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden said in a statement. canonical: https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-21T18:13:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T17:12:29.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris og:description: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden said in a statement. og:url: https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33a821929195e25f/698a58fd011682b00098605e/joe-biden-drops-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY-APEC-SUMMIT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris twitter:description: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," Biden said in a statement. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33a821929195e25f/698a58fd011682b00098605e/joe-biden-drops-out.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race, Endorses Harris to Replace Him > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=74488669-d306-475a-aee2-4b15a413a046&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: These Are the Biggest Moments From the First 2024 Presidential Debate [Watch (HLS stream): These Are the Biggest Moments From the First 2024 Presidential Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aYKZlt9t.m3u8) (2:59)  _Published 2024-06-28. Awkward exchanges, personal jabs, and falsehoods dominated the CNN Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump._ Updated: Jan 19, 2026 5:12 PM UTCPublished: Jul 21, 2024 6:13 PM UTC  President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference on Nov. 15, 2023. President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference on Nov. 15, 2023. Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Jan 19, 2026 5:12 PM UTCPublished: Jul 21, 2024 6:13 PM UTC President Biden announced on Sunday he was ending his bid for a second term and endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's nominee, upending the race for the White House less than four months before Election Day. The stunning move by Biden reflects the precipitous loss in confidence he faced within his party following a disastrous June 27 debate performance in Atlanta against Donald Trump. Biden made the announcement in a [letter](https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1815080881981190320) addressed to "My Fellow Americans" posted on social media. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President," the letter reads. "And while it has been the 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.” In a separate post, Biden said Harris has "my full support and endorsement." The historic decision makes Biden, 81, the first sitting president to cancel his re-election bid in over half a century, when Lyndon Johnson announced in March 1968 he would not accept the Democratic Party's nomination amid disapproval over his handling of the Vietnam War. Biden’s departure opens the door for the party to select a younger nominee at the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for the week of Aug. 19, and lead the party's ticket against the 78-year-old Trump. Although Biden endorsed Harris, 59, others have called for an open primary to decide on a new nominee. Other names that have been floated in recent weeks include three governors: Gavin Newsom of California, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. Democrats were shaken in June when Biden, 81, stumbled his way through his debate with Trump, mixing up names and figures, losing his train of thought, failing to parry back against Trump’s lies, and struggling to describe his own accomplishments and vision for a second term. In the days and weeks after, a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers and donors sounded the alarm, warning that Biden was likely to lose in November, potentially dragging down the party's candidates across the country and handing the House and Senate to Republicans. ### More from TIME For weeks, Biden insisted he would stay in the race and worked overtime to shore up his main pillars of support: union leaders and the Congressional Black Caucus. He blasted Democratic donors and “elites” for trying to push him out of the race. But it wasn’t enough. The list of prominent Democrats calling for him to step aside continued to grow last week and into this weekend. "I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision," Biden wrote in his letter. In a post on Trump's Truth Social platform, the former President said, "Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve - And never was!" Other Republicans echoed Trump's suggestion that Biden lacks the mental capacity to finish out his term. "If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President," Speaker Mike Johnson [wrote on X](https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1815093011669516433). "He must resign the office immediately." The prospect of Harris replacing Biden at the top of the ticket has drawn concerns from some within the party that she may be as weak or a weaker candidate against Trump. Biden has previously said he wouldn’t have picked Harris for vice president if he didn’t think she would make a strong President. ## Transcript If I'm elected, I'm going to restore Ro Wade. So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth, because some states, Democrat run, take it after birth. Again, the governor former governor of Virginia, put the baby down then we decide what to do with it. Get the total ban on the total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers. President Trump. I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either. Look, Hamas cannot be allowed to be continued. We continue to send our experts and our intelligence people as to how they can get Hamas like we did Bin Laden. But he said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas. Actually, Israel is the one, and you should let him go and let him finish the job. He doesn't want to do it. He's become like a Palestinian, but they don't like him because he's a very bad Palestinian. He's a weak one. On January 6, we had a great border. Nobody coming through, very few. On January 6, we were energy independent. On January 6, we had the lowest taxes ever. We had the lowest regulations ever. On January 6, we were respected all over the world, all over the world, we were respected. And then he comes in, and we're now left at. We're like, a bunch of stupid people. I said peacefully and patriotically. He encouraged those folks to go up at Capitol Hill, number one. I sat in the dining room off the Oval office. He sat there for 3 hours, 3 hours watching, begging, being begged by his vice president. The only person on this stage is a convicted felon is the man I'm looking at right now. And the fact of the matter is, he is what he's telling you is simply not true. But when he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon, at a very high level. His son is convicted. Gonna be convicted probably numerous other times. Should have been convicted before, but his justice department let the statute of limitations lapse on the most important things. How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things of having sex with a porn star on the night while your wife was pregnant. I mean, what are he talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat. Give you a minute, sir. I didn't have sex with a Porn Star, number one. Number two, that was a case that was started and moved. And, by the way, I told you before, I'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it? That's the biggest lie. He's a six handicap of all. I was eight handicap. Yeah. Eight You know how many I've seen you swing. I know you swing. Let's's act like children. President Trump we're going to. Let's not act like children. Pacific. Russia would have never attacked In preside. The question was, will you accept the results of the election, regardless of who wins? Yes or no, please. 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