Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday evening that he will not be contesting the US presidential election was a brave gesture, even if it was bowing to the inevitable. The stream of Democratic leaders appealing for him to pull out was growing longer by the day as a gloating Donald Trump, back on the campaign trail after the attempt on his life, publicly revelled in the prospect of facing a president who has appeared to be fading by the day.
“While it has been my intention to seek re-election,” Biden said 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.”
The president endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris as his replacement on the ticket for November’s election, as he was widely expected to do. However, the withdrawal, just four weeks before the Democratic National Convention, poses enormous challenges for the Democratic Party. Harris has not been polling well, though her ratings have improved in recent days and she has strong support among women and minority voters in the party.
Some senior figures in the party have called for a contested nomination. The issue for Democrats, they said, was never an acceptance of their president’s incapacity to do his job but simply that he was clearly no longer able to beat Trump following his disastrous face-to-face debate with the Republican candidate.
Biden has surprised many by proving a successful president – the US economy, in particular, is in fine shape. He has been responsible for major programmes of investment in national infrastructure, and popular improvements in the health system. He was the most Irish of presidents, proud of his roots, and clearly rejoiced in his visit to Ireland last year.
Republicans are likely now to ask whether he is fit to continue as president until January and there will be further questions about his heath. Harris will be asked what she knew about his condition and when she knew it.
The decision was clearly a difficult one for a politician who has defied the polls and the pundits in the past and remains the only Democrat who has defeated Trump in an election.
The reason he was under such pressure to go was precisely because the stakes are so high. The prospect of a second Trump presidency represents a real danger to US democracy and its alliances abroad.
Biden’s move gives Democrats an opportunity to regroup in a contest that appears still to be winnable. Although a painful and difficult decision it will also help to secure his legacy as president and represents a final act of service to his country and its democratic values