*Former President Barack Obama commended his “dear friend and partner” President Joe Biden following his decision to withdraw from the 2024 race.
As we reported earlier, citing CNN, Biden said he is not seeking reelection in a letter posted to X on his official account.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote. “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.”
Biden intends to speak to the nation later this week in more detail.
“Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts,” Obama said in a statement released Sunday.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
Obama highlighted Biden’s track record in the 3½ years in office, saying “he helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits.”
Obama described Trump’s administration as “four years of chaos, falsehood, and division,” and noted that “everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.”
“I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life,” Obama continued. “But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America.”
Per CNN, “Biden’s departure capped off weeks of concern about the 81-year-old president’s stamina and mental capabilities and skepticism of his ability to effectively campaign against Trump and govern the country for another four years,” the outlet writes.
“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” Obama said.
“I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August.”
The Democratic National Convention will take place in Chicago from August 19 to August 22.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Biden Will NOT Seek Reelection | WATCH Live Coverage
