Biden says he picked democracy over ‘personal ambition’ as he steps aside

President Joe Biden portrayed his decision to drop out of the 2024 race 100-odd days before the election during his highly anticipated prime-time address to the nation as his last act in defense of democracy.

“I revere this office but I love my country more,” Biden said from the White House‘s Oval Office on Wednesday. “It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president, but in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think is more important than any title.”

“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” he added. “But nothing — nothing — can come in the way of saving our democracy, that includes personal ambition. So I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation… There is a time and place for long years of experience in public life. But there’s also a time and place for new voices, fresh voices, and yes, younger voices.”

During his 11-minute address, a tanned Biden encountered difficulties reading from the teleprompter, at one point reached his left hand out on the Resolute Desk for a stretch, and acknowledged his awkwardness as “a kid with a stutter.”

But Biden did underscore his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is on the brink of becoming his replacement presumptive nominee, describing her as “tough,” “capable,” and an “incredible partner.”

In his address, written with longtime aides, including Mike Donilon, and only his fourth to be delivered from that office, Biden emphasized his desire not to be a so-called lame-duck president, as first lady Jill Biden and surviving son Hunter watched on.

“I’ll continue to lower costs for hardworking families, grow our economy,” the president said. “I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose.”

“I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis, which is an existential threat,” he went on. “I will keep fighting for my cancer moonshot so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy.”

Before the camera’s recording button turned red, White House staff members crowded into the East Wing for a watch party. Across the street, people gathered in Lafayette Square as part of a thank you rally organized by the more liberal organization MoveOn.

Biden not seeking reelection means that the end of his administration on Jan. 20 will end his time in Washington, D.C. He started commuting to the capital in 1973 from Delaware after he became one of the youngest senators in history, then a newly widowed father-of-two. One month earlier, his first wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, had died in a holiday car crash.

After 36 years in the Senate, former President Barack Obama chose Biden to be his two-term vice president. Obama later discouraged him from contesting the presidency against eventual 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, in part, because he had recently lost his eldest son Beau to cancer.

Wednesday night’s address, the first of its kind since former President Lyndon Johnson made a similar announcement in 1968, will be the second public comments Biden has made about his decision to step down as the Democratic nominee, other than his letter last weekend and his social media post endorsing Harris, amid concerns about his age, mental acuity, and electoral prospects after his debate last month against former President Donald Trump.

Calling into Harris’s first appearance as a presidential candidate at their campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, Biden reiterated his pride in their team and promised that he is “not going anywhere.”

“I know yesterday’s news is surprising and it’s hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do,” Biden told about 100 aides, some of whom were crying. “I know it’s hard because you’ve poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination, and then go on to win the presidency. … I know how hard you’ve worked, how many sacrifices you’ve made, and so many of you uprooted your lives for me.”
 
As campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a former Harris Senate staffer, held up a phone to the microphone of a podium set up in a room decorated with new “Harris” signs, Biden implored the group to “embrace” Harris because “she’s the best,” adding “the name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t.”

Harris repeatedly praised Biden during the event, saying that she loved him and that his 50-year career had been consequential, in addition to during her first rally as his heir apparent in Milwaukee on Tuesday and during an official stop for the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated’s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

“In this moment, I believe we face a choice between two different visions for our nation: one focused on the future, the other focused on the past,” the vice president said Wednesday. “With your support, I am fighting for our nation’s future.”

“We know when we organize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history,” she continued. “So let’s continue to fight with optimism, with faith, and with hope. Because when we fight, we win.”

Nationally, Trump has an average 2 percentage point edge on Harris in early polling conducted this month since the debate, according to RealClearPolitics.