Biden Urges Vote for Kamala Harris After Exiting the Race
“Democrats: it’s time to unite and defeat Trump. Let’s do it,” said the president after announcing his withdrawal from seeking re-election.
HAVANA TIMES – US President Joe Biden on Sunday called for a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement in the upcoming November 5 elections, through a message on his social media, a few minutes after announcing that he is dropping out of the race.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be our party’s candidate this year. Democrats: it’s time to unite and defeat Trump. Let’s do it,” the president said.
Biden posted this message a few minutes after publishing a letter in which he announced that he was withdrawing from the re-election race, in the interest of his party and the country.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to be your president. And while my intention was to seek re-election, I believe the best thing for my party and for the country is for me to step aside and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” said the 81-year-old president.
Although he initially did not explicitly support Harris, he did so minutes later on his social network.
“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 first decision as the party’s candidate in 2020 was to choose Kamala Harris as my vice president. And it has been the best decision I have made,” said the president.
The Democratic Party thus faces the challenge of choosing a candidate to confront former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in the presidential elections on November 5th.
Biden’s Resignation
Biden has thus yielded to pressure from his own party after his mediocre performance in the first debate of the race to the White House against former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
Dozens of legislators and senators had asked him in recent days to pass the torch to the new generations of the party due to his advanced age and doubts about his ability to handle the campaign.
The president, who is isolated at his home in Delaware recovering from COVID-19, explained that in the coming days, at the end of this week, he will address the nation to explain his decision.
“For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me re-elected,” he said, thanking Vice President Kamala Harris for being “an extraordinary partner in all this work.”
“Let me express my sincerest thanks to the American people for the faith and trust they have placed in me,” Biden said, indicating that in the last three and a half years, “great strides have been made as a nation.”
“I know that none of this would have been possible without you, the United States people. Together, we overcame a once-in-a-century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We have protected and preserved our democracy. And we have revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world,” he said.