Joe Biden has just announced that he's endorsing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the US 2024 presidential race, in a post on X.
Biden has announced that he will end his candidacy for re-election, upending the race for the White House four months before Americans go to the polls in November.
The decision comes after weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats following a stumbling and sometimes incoherent debate performance against Republican Donald Trump at the end of June.
The 81-year-old had resisted calls to step aside even as concerns over his mental fitness and capacity to beat Trump mounted.
The announcement paves the way for another Democrat to become the party’s presidential candidate, with Vice-President Kamala Harris the most likely successor.
He will remain president until January when the winner of the 2024 election will take office.
Here's Biden's statement on Harris in full, which he posted on X moments ago:
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.
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.
