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In a stunning turnaround, President Joe Biden announced that he is withdrawing his candidacy for reelection in 2024.
The decision came weeks after the president gave a disastrous performance in a debate against former President Donald Trump in late June.
Biden struggled to deliver coherent answers to numerous questions, re-igniting concerns about his age that had been simmering among Democrats for months. In the days following the debate, Biden faced growing pressure to step aside, with Democratic politicians urging the 81-year-old president to do so.
The White House looked to have stymied a massive outcry from members of Congress, but as lawmakers returned to Washington, more seemed unwilling to accept Biden's decision to stay in the race.
On Wednesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was "up to the president to decide if he is going to run," which was odd as Biden had already declared he wasn't going anywhere.
Polling had long shown Biden trailing Trump both nationally and in key swing states, and the debate represented a key opportunity for the president to turn the race around. Instead, some national polls showed that the former president cemented his lead. Election prognosticators also moved Minnesota and New Hampshire closer to Trump with the possibility that even a state like New Mexico could become competitive.
On Thursday, Biden's top campaign officials conceded that the president had taken a small step back since the debate but emphasized that Trump was still beatable.
"There is a long way to go between now and Election Day with considerable uncertainty and polls in July should not be overestimated, but the data shows we have a clear path to win," Biden's campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in a memo to staffers.
It's the first time in recent American history that a major party has had to replace its nominee so close to a general election.
In 1968, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson dropped out of the race amid widespread protests over his handling of the Vietnam War, though he did so in the midst of the primary season, giving Democrats plenty of time to rally around another candidate.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey ultimately claimed the nomination amid a chaotic convention in Chicago, only to lose to Richard Nixon.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
