{"id":247434,"date":"2024-07-25T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T01:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/25\/biden-explains-decision-to-step-aside\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:14:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:14:00","slug":"biden-explains-decision-to-step-aside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/25\/biden-explains-decision-to-step-aside\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden explains decision to step aside"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Insisting that \u201cthe defense of democracy is more important than any title,\u201d\u00a0President Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0on Wednesday explained in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and to throw his support behind\u00a0Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The address offered the public their first chance to hear directly from Biden his rationale for dropping out of the 2024 after weeks of insisting he believed himself to be the best candidate to take on\u00a0former President Donald Trump<\/a>, whom he has called an existential threat to the nation\u2019s democracy. It also gave Biden a chance to try to shape how history views his one and only term in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defense of democracy is more important than any title,\u201d Biden said. \u201cNothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. And that includes personal ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Biden, \u201cI revere this office, but I love my country more.\u201d He added that his decision to bow out was made in good faith. \u201cIt\u2019s not about me, it\u2019s about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s candidacy faced a crisis of confidence from Democrats after his abysmal debate against Trump nearly a month ago, where he spoke haltingly, appeared ashen and failed to rebut his predecessor\u2019s attacks. It sparked a mutiny within his party over not just whether he was capable of beating Trump in November, but also whether at 81, he was still fit for the high-pressure job.<\/p>\n

Biden tried to outlast the skepticism and quell the concerns with interviews and tepid rallies, but the pressure to step aside only mounted from the party\u2019s political elites and from ordinary voters.<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, while isolating at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home with COVID-19, Biden finally bowed in a letter posted to his account on X<\/a> announcing his decision to leave the race, followed up later by an endorsement of Harris.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation,\u201d Biden said, saying he wanted to make room for \u201cfresh voices, yes, younger voices.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThat is the best way to unite our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s address was being carried by the major broadcast and cable news networks. He pledge to remain focused on being president until his term expires at noon on Jan. 20, 2025, saying he would work to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, fight to boost government support to cure cancer, and call for Supreme Court reform.<\/p>\n

The president was hoping to use the address to outline the stakes in the election, which both Biden and Harris have framed as a choice between freedom and chaos, but he tried to steer clear of overt campaigning from his official office and never mentioned Trump by name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThe people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America \u2014 lies in your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biden was also looking to make the case for his legacy of sweeping domestic legislation and the renewal of alliances abroad. The way history will remember his time in office and his historic decision to step aside is intertwined with Harris\u2019 electoral result in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.<\/p>\n

His advisers say he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, albeit at a far slower pace than if he had remained on the ballot himself.<\/p>\n

Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters in both parties questioned his fitness for office.<\/p>\n

Biden, aides say, knows that if Harris loses, he\u2019ll be criticized for staying in the race too long and not giving her or another Democrat time to effectively mount a campaign against Trump. If she wins, she\u2019ll ensure his policy victories are secured and expanded, and he\u2019ll be remembered for a Washingtonian decision to step aside for the next generation of leadership.<\/p>\n

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that any question of Biden resigning his office \u2014 which would allow Harris to run as an incumbent \u2014 was \u201cridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jean-Pierre said Biden has \u201cno regrets\u201d about his decision to stay in the race as long as he did, or his decision to quit it over the weekend. She said Biden\u2019s decision had nothing to do with his health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[ad_1] Insisting that \u201cthe defense of democracy is more important than any title,\u201d\u00a0President Joe Biden\u00a0on Wednesday explained in an Oval Office address his decision to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":247435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247434"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}