Monday Briefing: Biden drops his re-election bid

July 22, 2024

	By Daniel E. Slotnik

Good morning. President Biden has abandoned his bid for re-election.

In this special edition, we’ll report on his decision, what happens now and what this might mean for the U.S. election in November.

President Biden against a black backdrop.

President Biden said he would address the nation about his decision later this week. Eric Lee/The New York Times

President Biden steps aside

President Biden abandoned his bid for re-election yesterday, succumbing to intense pressure from the Democratic Party in a dramatic attempt to stop Donald Trump from returning to the White House. No sitting U.S. president has dropped out of a race so late in an election cycle. Follow our live coverage of reactions, endorsements and further developments.

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a letter posted on social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, 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.”

Biden said he planned to serve out his term, andendorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee. Here’s where she stands on key issues.

“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he said in a subsequent online post. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”

Not long after, Harris announced that she was running. “My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said in a statement. “We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”

Biden, 81, announced his withdrawal after a disastrous debate performance against Trump intensified concerns about the president’s age and ability to win the election. Biden defied calls to drop out for weeks and told aides as recently as Saturday night that the campaign was still full speed ahead. Most of his staff was informed of his decision at 1:45 p.m., one minute before Biden posted his announcement.

Read more from my colleague Peter Baker on the president’s momentous decision.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she was running for president. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Choosing a new nominee

Biden’s decision sets the stage for an intense, abbreviated scramble to build a new Democratic ticket, the first time in generations that a nominee will be chosen at a convention rather than through primaries.

There are more than 4,600 Democratic National Convention delegates, made up of senior party figures, local activists and elected officials who were selected at state party conventions this spring.

Biden has endorsed Harris and can recommend what his delegates should do, but he does not control the outcome. Several prominent Democratic governors are seen as potential nominees. There is no precedent or historical record to consult, and the party’s rules are not always clear on the details of what will unfold next.

But there appear to be two ways this process can go, according to Democratic Party leaders and strategists.

First, the party could rally around Harris as a unifying force during a time of crisis. She has been vetted and is well known. And she could take over the Biden-Harris campaign apparatus and bank account.
But some Democrats have argued that anointing a candidate is risky, and they say that the party would be better off with a more competitive selection process. If more candidates get into the race, there could be party-sanctioned forums across the country, with party delegates ultimately deciding the nominee.

Democrats will gather in Chicago on Aug. 19 for their nominating convention; the nominee is scheduled to deliver the acceptance speech on Aug. 22.

Harris has already received prominent endorsements, including by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Mark Warner, by the political arm of the Congressional Black Caucus and by Bill and Hillary Clinton. Recent polls have shown her performing better than Biden against Trump nationally and in some swing states.

Donald Trump gestures with his hands outstretched on a stage adorned with American flags.

Donald Trump seized on President Biden’s decision to end his bid for re-election, saying he was never fit to serve. Doug Mills/The New York Times

What this means for Donald Trump

Biden’s announcement could upend a race that seemed to favor Trump after the debate. Trump has tried to depict himself as strong and Biden as frail, so Biden’s departure could undermine a central argument of his campaign.

Trump’s team is already trying to find an effective message to take down Harris, my colleagues Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported on Sunday before Biden’s announcement.

Trump wasted no time going after his departing opponent, writing on social media: “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve — And never was!”

Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House, said on X that Biden should resign “immediately.”

Trump, 78, often rambles incoherently and has confused names, dates and facts just as Biden has. But Republicans have not turned against him.

Biden’s decision may have opened up the election. “By bowing out of the presidential race, he appears to have increased the odds that Democrats can hold onto the White House and compete strongly for control of Congress,” my Opinion colleague Nicholas Kristof writes.

MORE TOP NEWS

A multilane bridge over a brown river, with one section collapsed.

A collapsed section of a bridge in Shaanxi Province, China, on Saturday. CNS, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

China: At least 12 people were dead and many more missing after a highway bridge collapsed amid heavy rain.
Israel: The military bombed a vital Yemeni port controlled by the Houthi militia in retaliation for a deadly drone strike on Tel Aviv.
Investigation: Xiao Jianhua, a corrupt investor tied to China’s political elite, backed Jack Ma, the country’s most revered entrepreneur.
Vietnam: The country’s long-serving Communist Party general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, died on Friday, raising questions of succession.
Bangladesh: A court ruling sharply reduced a quota system for government jobs after protests turned violent.

Sports News

A man in a yellow cycling jersey holds his yellow Colnago bicycle over his head. A woman on his right holds a bouquet of yellow flowers and a man on his left claps.

Tadej Pogacar celebrated on the podium in Nice, France, on Sunday. Jerome Delay/Associated Press

Tour de France: Tadej Pogacar turned the tables on his rival Jonas Vingegaard and won his third title.
F1: Oscar Piastri won his first Formula 1 race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, after a messy situation unfolded within McLaren.

MORNING READ

At dusk, a woman poses near an inflatable rendition of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, pretending to push it back up. The Hong Kong skyline is visible behind her.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one monument recreated for an outdoor festival in Hong Kong. Billy H.C. Kwok for The New York Times

People in Hong Kong can now visit Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids and the giant faces of Easter Island without leaving the city. They’ve been recreated as white inflatables for a public outdoor festival that will continue into August, attracting crowds and stirring discussion about what is considered art versus crass commercialism.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

25 years in a pineapple under the sea: This quiz tests your “SpongeBob SquarePants” knowledge.
Tourist fees: Charging tourists five euros to enter Venice on peak days generated nearly 2.5 million euros, so much that critics said the effort failed to deter people from coming.
Sports fashion: Athletes are the new fashion superstars, our chief style critic writes.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A man in a striped shirt standing amid plants in the yard of a house.

Volodymyr Vakulenko, the father of the writer of the same name, showing the spot where his son buried his secret diary of occupation. Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times

Ukraine’s book industry thrives in the face of war

Volodymyr Vakulenko, a Ukrainian author, buried a handwritten manuscript in his backyard in 2022 when he sensed that Russian forces might arrest him.

His body turned up in a mass grave. Another Ukrainian author, Viktoria Amelina, learned of the buried book and sent it to a publisher before she was killed in a missile strike. Now “I Transform: A Diary of Occupation and Selected Poems” is on sale — a testament to Ukraine’s enduring book industry.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Emma Fishman for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff.

Cook: These poppy seed noodles take just 25 minutes.

Watch: These five horror movies available to stream now include a film about the ghosts of South Korean warriors.

Read: In “Autocracy, Inc.,” the historian Anne Applebaum argues that financial institutions and trade deals have enabled the rise of tyranny.

Focus: Can you spend 10 minutes staring at one painting?

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Dan

P.S. Tell us about how self-care has changed for you as you have aged.

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