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Days after becoming the first sitting president in decades to forsake a run for a second term, President Joe Biden said he decided to drop out of the 2024 presidential race because it was the best way for him to unite his party and the country in defense of democracy.
“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation,” Biden said Wednesday in his first official address to the nation since announcing his campaign withdrawal. “That is the best way to unite our nation.”
The president explained he still believes the US is “at an inflection point,” teetering between continuing as a democracy and a rising autocracy represented by former president Donald Trump and his MAGA movement.
Biden said the country will have to choose “between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division” and decide if Americans still believe “in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy.”
He said although he believed his record since taking office in January 2021 was enough to earn voters’ support for a second term, his desire to continue serving was less important than the country itself.
“Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy — that includes personal ambition,” he said.
The president’s emotional Oval Office address came just days after he announced in a letter that he would leave the presidential race and throw his support behind Harris after weeks of pressure for him to stand down on account of his dismal performance in his debate against Trump.
It was the first time a sitting American president opted to forgo election to a second four-year term since 1968 when amid the upheaval caused by protests over the Vietnam War, then-president Lyndon Johnson shocked Americans by announcing that he would neither seek nor accept the Democratic Party’s nomination.
His roughly eight-minute speech represents a capstone on the former senator and vice president’s more than five decades of service.
Biden, his voice sounding strained and hoarse at times as he spoke, referred to the positive feelings he has about his record in public office, even as he stressed that his time in government has never been spent in service of his ego.
“I draw strength, and find joy, in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our Union is not about me. It’s about you. Your families. Your futures. It’s about ‘We the People’,” he said.
The president also acknowledged the calls for him to step aside and made it “clear” that it was critical to unite the Democratic Party in the hopes of preserving democracy.
He encouraged voters to take the power of the future in their hands and vote for a democratic future – something he has continuously warned Trump will not respect. Both Biden and Harris have raised concerns that Trump will implement drastic changes to the executive branch, consolidating power and installing loyalists over civil servants – an aspect of Project 2025.
“The defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden said during his primetime address.
Biden has already endorsed Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee. Since announcing his withdrawal, Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton and more have also endorsed the vice president.
The former senator consolidated her party’s support by locking down 1,976 delegate votes needed for the nomination within 24 hours.
Though Biden will not be a candidate for a second term, he will remain in office through January 20, 2025. He pledged to spend the remaining six months of his term working toward the goals he set for his administration such as lowering costs for working-class families, growing the economy and defending civil rights.
He highlighted his accomplishments as president, like appointing the first Black woman Supreme Court justice, creating policies to combat climate change, enacting gun violence reform, maintaining democracy and establishing a diverse administration.
As he brought his remarks to a solemn close, the president thanked Americans for the support that had allowed him the chance to accomplish those things.
“I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you,” he said.
After he ended his remarks, the president hugged his family members who were present for his speech. At least 40 people were in the Oval Office to witness Biden delivering the address. That included his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, his son Hunter Biden, his daughter Ashley Biden and granddaughter Finnegan Biden.
On X, the First Lady thanked, those who put their trust in President Biden and endorsed Harris.
“To those who never wavered, to those who refused to doubt, to those who always believed, my heart is full of gratitude,” Jill wrote. “Thank you for the trust you put in Joe—now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.”
