US President Joe Biden said he is standing down and will not run for reelection on Sunday. He has endorsed US Vice-President and Indian-American lawmaker Kamala Harris to replace him as the party’s candidate. Harris who also welcomed Biden’s decision and vowed to win the party’s nomination and defeat Donald Trump in the November elections.

“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 focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a letter posted on X.

This move throws the White House race into an uncharted territory which already became tense following the recent attempt on the life of former US President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

His predecessor Donald Trump, who was his rival and who Joe Biden believed he could defeat, called him the worst president in the history of the US, according to broadcaster CNN.

“He is the worst president in the history of our country. He goes down as the single worst president by far in the history of our country,” Donald Trump said.

Thirty-five congressional Democrats, representing more than 10% of the party’s members in Congress, had earlier publicly called on Biden, who was isolating at his Delaware home with COVID-19, to drop out following the June 27 debate against Trump. The debate raised serious concerns inside the party over Biden’s ability to win the election or carry out his duties for another four years.

A person familiar with development told news agency Reuters that Biden had a last-minute change of heart. He had told allies that as of Saturday night he planned to stay in the race before changing his mind on Sunday afternoon.

“Last night the message was to proceed with everything, full speed ahead. At around 1:45 p.m. today: the president told his senior team that he had changed his mind,” the aforementioned person told news agency Reuters.

First Sitting President To Give Their Party’s Nomination

Biden’s historic move – the first sitting president to give up his party’s nomination for reelection since President Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War in March 1968 – leaves his replacement with less than four months to wage a campaign.

Biden was the oldest US president ever elected when he beat Trump in 2020. During that campaign, Biden described himself as a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders. Some interpreted that to mean he would serve one term, a transitional figure who beat Trump and brought his party back to power.

But he set his sights on a second term in the belief that he was the only Democrat who could beat Trump again amid questions about Harris’s experience and popularity. In recent times, though, his advanced age began to show through more. His gait became stilted and his childhood stutter occasionally returned.

His team had hoped a strong performance at the June 27 debate would ease concerns over his age. It did the opposite: a Reuters/Ipsos poll after the debate showed that about 40% of Democrats thought he should quit the race.

Donors began to revolt and supporters of Harris began to coalesce around her. Top Democrats, including former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime ally, told Biden he cannot win the election.