US President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race for the upcoming November election amid growing calls for the exit from his own Democratic party.
The announcement was made by Biden on X. He is currently suffering from COVID-19. Since the debate with former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump on June 28, the pressure was mounting on President Biden to withdraw his candidature from the race.
Biden was diagnosed with COVID-19 on July 18 and it was being speculated that during his quarantine, he would get ample time to introspect and bow out of the race.
But in his corresponding statements in the past and recent one, it was clear that he is not letting the race go off his hook.
President Biden in his statement said, “My Fellow Americans, over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation. Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in building our Nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans.”
Biden further detailed about the achievements in his tenure and said, “We’ve provided critically needed care to a record number of Americans. We’ve provided critically needed care to a million veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court.”
Within 30 minutes of his announcement, he endorsed his Vice-President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination, leaving no room for any doubt about the way forward for the Democrats.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. 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,” Mr. Biden wrote.
By dropping his reelection bid, Mr. Biden clears the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket, the first Black woman to do so in the country’s history.
The Kremlin on Monday was cautious about the possibility of Kamala Harris’s U.S. presidential candidacy, saying that the vice president had made no discernable contribution to relations with Moscow beyond some unfriendly rhetoric.
Asked if Russia was surprised by Biden’s move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that events in the United States over recent years had taught Moscow not to be surprised by anything and that in any case Russia had different priorities.
“In recent years, what has been happening in the United States has taught us not to be surprised by anything,” Peskov told reporters on a conference call.
“We were not very surprised.”