Joe Biden withdraws, endorses Kamala Harris for US presidential race

United States President Joe Biden has announced that he will no longer seek re-election.

Mr Biden, who has faced criticism from members of his party for what many believe to be a cognitive decline due to his age, 81, announced his decision in a post on X.

“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,” he wrote in a statement posted on X.

Mr Biden also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate for the November election.

“Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”

Mr Biden’s support for Ms Harris boosts her chances of becoming the Democratic Party’s candidate to challenge ex-President Donald Trump in November’s election. Mr Trump has been formally declared the candidate of the Republican Party.

Criticism

Mr Biden has faced criticism from members of his party due to what appears to be a cognitive decline due to his age, 81.

Conversations about him dropping out of the race intensified after he struggled to trace his thoughts and articulate his words in a debate with Mr Trump.

His campaign team maintained he was not dropping out of the race and attributed the poor performance to bad preparation and exhaustion