WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden posted a letter on social media on Sunday announcing that he will not run for re-election.
The Democrat’s decision came after mounting pressure from lawmakers, donors, activists and voters within his own party who had concerns about whether he could beat Republican Donald Trump in the November election. The letter ended weeks of speculation following the 81-year-old’s troubling performance at the June 27 presidential debate. Below is the text of the letter, which Biden sent on his personal stationery:
My fellow Americans,
Over the last 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 to rebuild our country, lowered prescription drug costs for seniors, and expanded affordable health care for a record number of Americans. We’ve brought much-needed care to one million veterans exposed to toxic substances. We passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. We appointed the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court. And we passed the most vital climate law in world history. America has never been better positioned to lead.
I know that none of this would have been possible without you, the American people. Together, we have overcome a pandemic of the century and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We have protected and preserved our democracy. And we have renewed and strengthened our alliances around the world.
It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President, and while I plan to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country that I step down and devote the remainder of my term to fulfilling my duties as President.
I will speak to the nation in more detail about my decision later this week.
For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all of those who worked so challenging to get me re-elected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all of this work. And let me express my deepest appreciation to the American people for the trust they have placed in me.
I believe today what I have always believed: that there is nothing America cannot accomplish – if we do it together. We just have to remember that we are the United States of America.
