President Biden had finally made the hardest decision on Sunday to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, a few months after being declared the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee and just weeks after a dismal debate showing.
Biden reached the decision to end his campaign after days in isolation at his Delaware beach house with Covid-19 and after watching many Democrats desert the president who led them to power just four years ago.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” the 81-year-old embattled commander-in-chief wrote in a remarkable letter that he addressed to “My Fellow Americans.”
“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.
“I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision,” Biden wrote.
“I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trusty you have placed in me,” Biden said.
About a half-hour later, he followed up the open letter with another missive on X endorsing Harris to replace him at the top of the flailing party’s new ticket.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden wrote. “Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Five minutes after that, he urged people to donate to her campaign.
Harris issued a statement several hours later praising her boss — and announcing she would be pursuing the party’s presidential nomination, trying already to sound like the party’s top candidate,
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” Harris said of Biden’s withdrawal.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.
“Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead,” Harris said.
While pressure on Biden to resign had been mounting to almost unmanageable levels over the past few weeks, the president’s announcement Sunday was still historically extraordinary — and left at least some staffers stunned.
Less than 20 hours before he publicly called it quits, it appeared even Biden hadn’t made up his mind — tweeting, “It’s the most important election of our lifetimes.
“And I will win it.”
拜登總統退出 2024 年總統競選，支持卡馬拉
拜登總統在周日做出了史無前例的決定，退出 2024 年總統競選，幾個月前，他被宣佈為民主黨推定提名人，而就在一場慘淡的辯論結束幾週後。
拜登因感染 Covid-19 而在特拉華州海濱別墅隔離數日，並目睹許多民主黨人拋棄了四年前帶領他們掌權的總統，之後，拜登做出了結束競選的決定。
這位 81 歲的四面楚歌的總司令在一封寫給“我的美國同胞們”的非凡信中寫道：“擔任你們的總統是我一生中最大的榮幸。”
「雖然我打算尋求連任，但我相信，我辭職並在餘下的任期內專注於履行總統職責，才符合我的政黨和國家的最佳利益。
拜登寫道：“我將在本週晚些時候向全國詳細介紹我的決定。”
「我要感謝副總統卡馬拉·哈里斯在所有這些工作中成為傑出的合作夥伴。 讓我對美國人民對我的信任和信任表示衷心的感謝。
大約半小時後，他在這封公開信之後又在 X 上發表了另一封信，支持哈里斯取代他在該黨新選票中的位置。
拜登寫道：“今天，我想對卡馬拉成為我們黨今年的提名人表示全力支持和認可。”
「民主黨人——是時候團結起來擊敗川普了。 我們開工吧。
五分鐘後，他敦促人們為她的競選活動捐款。
幾個小時後，哈里斯發表了一份聲明，讚揚了她的老闆，並宣布她將尋求該黨的總統提名，努力讓自己聽起來像是該黨的頭號候選人，
哈里斯在談到拜登的退出時表示：“拜登總統通過這種無私和愛國的行為，正在做他一生中所做的事情：將美國人民和我們的國家置於一切之上。”
「我很榮幸得到總統的支持，我的目的是贏得並贏得這項提名。
「在過去的一年裡，我走遍了全國，與美國人討論這場重大選舉中的明確選擇。 這就是我在未來幾天和幾週內將繼續做的事情，」哈里斯說。
儘管過去幾週拜登辭職的壓力已經上升到幾乎無法控制的水平，但總統週日的聲明仍然具有歷史意義，並且至少讓一些工作人員感到震驚。
在公開宣布退出選舉前不到 20 小時，拜登似乎還沒有下定決心，他在推特上寫道：「這是我們一生中最重要的選舉。
“而且我會贏的。”
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