Timeline of Joe Biden’s failed re-election bid from debate disaster and Democrat betrayals to impulsive decision to quit
JOE Biden’s 2024 re-election bid ended on Sunday after his increasingly gaff-prone presidency saw him come under renewed pressure to call it quits.
Despite increasing calls for him to drop out since his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump in June, as early as Sunday morning, he was posting defiantly on X, saying he would continue to serve Americans.
However, Biden reportedly told his closest advisors he had made the decision to drop out at 1:45 pm before posting just a minute later that he was suspending his campaign, sending the last 100 days of the election into chaos.
A source told ABC News that the decision to withdraw was abrupt, and the president was ready to continue his campaign as early as Saturday night.
“No one had a heads up before the tweet posted,” a campaign staffer told DailyMail.com.
“Which, to me, is an insane way to treat the 1300 people that work for you on the campaign.”
The president initially ran his campaign in 2020 on the idea that he would be a one-term president.
He outlined a plan to defeat Trump’s re-election bid and pass the torch to a new Democrat in 2024.
As the election drew closer, Biden. began to walk back on his claims and eventually decided to run for re-election.
He continually cited the need to continue his administration based on the country’s current state, emphasizing that he still had work to do as president.
However, everything changed when he took the debate stage on June 27.
DEBATE DISASTER
Biden’s presidential debate against Trump emphasized Biden’s weaknesses, resulting in concerns over his ability to beat the former president in November.
The president was already facing criticism after multiple public blunders and concerns about his cognitive health, adding to the pressure to prove his capabilities.
However, rather than put on a show of strength and power, he struggled to form coherent sentences and even participated in a bizarre conversation about his golfing abilities.
Biden later explained that his debate performance was due to exhaustion from traveling for the anniversary of D-Day in France and the G7 meeting in Italy.
At a fundraiser after the debate, he told supporters, “I wasn’t very smart. I decided to travel around the world a couple of times … shortly before the debate.”
“I didn’t listen to my staff and I came back and then I almost fell asleep on stage,” he added.
Biden expressed a similar sentiment at a rally in North Carolina, stating, “I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth.”
PRESS PUSH
After Biden acknowledged his poor debate performance, his campaign team ramped up public appearances to prove the night was an anomaly.
During an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos, Biden doubled down that he simply had a “bad night” during the debate.
“No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night,” the president told Stephanopoulos.
He added that he was feeling sick and even tested for Covid-19, although it came back negative.
The president would then test positive for the virus a few weeks later.
TRUMP’S ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Trump survived an assassination attempt on July 13, while speaking at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The former president turned his head to look at a graph as a bullet grazed his ear.
Trump fell to the ground and was ushered off stage by the Secret Service.
He then appeared at the Republican National Convention just a few days later to accept the party’s nomination for president.
Trump’s former challengers, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis spoke in favor of his nomination and endorsed his presidential run.
The convention was a display of unity within the Republican party, a contrast to the calls for Biden to step down among Democrats.
Following Trump’s assassination attempt, his favorability rating increased 40%, according to an ABC/Ipsos poll.
Meanwhile, Biden struggled to climb in the polls.
CALLS FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE
As polls began to demonstrate Biden’s loss in November, more prominent Democrats began to call on the president to suspend his re-election campaign.
What happens next as Joe Biden drops out of the 2024 race?
President Biden has finally heeded calls to drop his bid for re-election, throwing the 2024 election into chaos. He has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris but naming a new Democratic nominee won't be a simple process. Here's what's next after Biden's stunning announcement.
Biden secured nearly 4,000 delegates by winning state caucuses and primaries earlier this year. He was set to officially be named the Democratic nominee at a virtual vote ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19.
Democratic party rules don’t allow Biden to simply pass his 3,896 delegates to Harris or another candidate.
Harris will now have to convince those nearly 4,000 delegates and 700 superdelegates to support her and name her nominee.
However, delegates are free agents who can choose to support whichever candidate they want – likely without input from voters at this stage since primaries and caucuses were already held.
All eyes are now on the previously planned virtual vote – where the Democratic party could choose a nominee before the DNC begins.
Biden’s endorsement of Harris will likely sway delegates and no one has publicly challenged her as a candidate – but delegates are not required to back her. Even if the virtual vote isn’t held, the party could still choose Harris or another candidate before the convention.
If Democrats don’t name their nominee before the DNC, it’ll be the first open and contested convention since 1968.
Texas Representative Lloyd Doggett was the first Democrat to publically call for Biden to withdraw on July 2.
Over 30 House Democrats and four Senators joined Doggett in calling for Biden to resign over the last few weeks.
Senator Joe Manchin called on Biden to drop out just hours before he made the announcement.
Manchin has been a key moderate in Congress and his statement represented a turning point.
ABC News also reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had expressed their concern about the campaign during a private meeting with Biden.
Schumer’s team released a statement following the report that read, “Unless ABC’s sources are Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation,” a spokesperson for Schumer responded to the report.
“Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly President Biden on Saturday.”
Senator Bernie Sanders also expressed doubts publicly over Biden’s re-election campaign, admitting that the president, “can’t put three sentences together,” in an interview with the New Yorker.
Reports also surfaced that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told Biden that the polls weren’t on his side, and his re-election campaign could prevent Democrats from winning the House.
Perhaps the biggest shock came from a recent Washington Post article that reported former President Barack Obama was questioning Biden’s ability to win.
A source close to Obama told the publication that Biden’s, “path to victory has greatly diminished and he thinks the president needs to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy.”
COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS
While campaigning in the battleground state of Nevada, Biden tested positive for COVID-19.
The president missed his speaking appearance at the annual UnidosUS conference as a representative announced his diagnosis at the podium.
Biden then wrote an official statement on his official presidential account announcing his diagnosis and reassuring his supporters that he was “feeling good.”
Just before his COVID diagnosis, Biden sat down with BET News for an interview, revealing that he would only step down if a medical condition emerged.
IMPULSIVE DECISION
According to ABC News, Biden told a senior member of his team about his decision to suspend his campaign just one minute before news broke.
The decision is a stark contrast to his previous statements on his campaign.
His message had continually been “full speed ahead,” up until he withdrew.
The president announced in a letter posted to X on Sunday that it was the “greatest honor” to serve as president.
“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,” he added.
Biden then wrote on X that he would endorse his running mate, Kamala Harris, as the Democrat nominee.
Harris graciously accepted the endorsement in a separate statement and praised Biden’s tenure as president.
The Democrats will officially nominate a candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois starting on August 19.
Joe Biden's full letter announcing his withdrawal from campaign
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, 46th US president Joe Biden posted a letter X, formerly known as Twitter, announcing he's stepping down from the 2024 presidential race.
My Fellow Americans,
Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation.
Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding our Nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans. We’ve provided critically needed care to a million veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court. And passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world. America has never been better positioned to lead than we are today.
I know none of this could have been done without you, the American people. Together, we overcame a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.
It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. 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.
I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.
For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.
I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together.
We just have to remember we are the United States of America