US President Joe Biden withdraws as presidential candidate

Der amerikanische Präsident Joe Biden hat den Weg für einen neuen Präsidentschaftskandidaten der Demokratischen Partei freigemacht. Am Sonntag teilte er auf der Platform X einen Brief, in dem er mitteilte, dass er seinen Wahlkampf beende und die Nominierung nicht mehr anstrebe. Kurz danach empfahl er, dass seine Vizepräsidentin Kamala Harris die Demokratische Partei im November in den Kampf gegen den Republikaner Donald Trump führe.

Auf X schrieb Biden, Harris habe seine „volle Unterstützung“. Es sei seine „allererste“ und „beste“ Entscheidung gewesen, sich im Jahr 2020 für Harris als „running mate“ zu entscheiden. Der Präsident appellierte an die Demokraten, „zusammenzukommen und Trump zu besiegen“ – es sei an der Zeit.

Harris hatte sich seinerzeit selbst vergeblich in den Vorwahlen um die Präsidentschaftskandidatur der Demokraten beworben. Die Tochter einer tamilischen Inderin und eines Afrojamaikaners war damals Senatorin; zuvor war sie die kalifornische Generalstaatsanwältin gewesen. Der Sender CNN berichtete am Sonntag, Biden und Harris hätten miteinander gesprochen, nannte jedoch keine Details. 

Biden befindet sich derzeit in seinem Ferienhaus in Rehoboth Beach in Delaware und kuriert eine Covid-Infektion aus. Der 81 Jahre alte Präsident stand unter erheblichem Druck in seiner Partei, nachdem er in der ersten Fernsehdebatte gegen Trump Ende Juni deutliche Alterserscheinungen gezeigt hatte. Noch am Freitag hatte Biden mitteilen lassen, er freue sich auf weitere Wahlkampfauftritte in der kommenden Woche. Nun kündigte er an, sich in der kommenden Woche noch einmal persönlich zu erklären. Bidens führende Berater wurden laut der „Washington Post“ erst unmittelbar vor der Veröffentlichung des Briefs informiert. 

In his letter, Biden wrote: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President.” Although it was his intention to seek re-election, “I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country that I step down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” Biden will remain President and Commander in Chief of the United States until his successor is sworn in on January 20, 2025.

Trump, who was officially nominated as the Republican presidential candidate last week, said on Sunday that Biden was “not suitable” as a presidential candidate. America will “suffer greatly” because of this presidency, but he will “repair the damage quickly.” Immediately after the announcement, Trump told CNN that Biden would “go down in history as the worst president.”

The Democratic Party's nominating convention begins in Chicago on August 19. Biden won the primaries in all states; despite long-standing doubts about the health of the president, who would have been 86 years old at the end of a second term, no party heavyweight had challenged the incumbent. The vast majority of the 3,900 delegates would have been bound by the primary results if Biden had not withdrawn, and would therefore have had to vote for Biden. It was even planned to hold the nomination virtually at the beginning of August.

Now all delegates are free to choose. It is expected that other Democratic politicians will apply for the nomination. Voting in Chicago will then continue until one candidate wins an absolute majority of the votes. For more than 70 years, it has not happened that one of the two major parties met for a nominating convention without the result being known in advance.

The Democratic Party has been wrangling over its direction for many years. After Joe Biden won the primaries in 2020, however, the party was relatively united so as not to jeopardize the goal of driving Donald Trump out of the White House. It is uncertain to what extent the dispute between progressives and moderates will now flare up again. The great time pressure and Trump's clear lead in the polls are likely to have a disciplining effect.

In the weeks before Biden's announcement, about forty members of Congress and major Democratic donors had openly expressed criticism of a possible second term for Biden. According to media reports, the doubters included former President Barack Obama, Biden confidante and longtime Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the two Democratic leaders in Congress, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

Pelosi praised Biden's decision on Sunday, saying he was a “patriotic American who has always put our country first.” She did not mention Kamala Harris in her statement. Instead, in a post on X Bill and Hillary Clinton spoke out in favor of the vice president. They said it was “an honor” and that they would “do everything in our power to support her.”