President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is “passing the torch to a new generation” as he explained his abrupt exit from the 2024 presidential race to Americans for the first time Wednesday night, in an Oval Office address that capped more than 50 years in politics.
“I revere this office,” Biden said. “But I love my country more.”
Biden, 81, rejected weeks of pressure from Democrats to step aside after a disastrous performance in the June 27 debate, saying at one point that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to leave.
“I've decided that the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That's the best way to unite our nation,” Biden said.
Biden made his decision after days of soul-searching and agonizing over internal polls that predicted he could lose to Republican Donald Trump in November and drag his fellow Democrats down with him.
“The best thing about America is that it is not kings or dictators who rule, but the people. History is in your hands. Power is in your hands. The idea of America is in your hands,” Biden said.
These are Biden's first extensive public remarks since he bowed to pressure from fellow Democrats and announced on social media Sunday that he had decided not to seek re-election on Nov. 5.
Biden is the first sitting president not to seek re-election since 1968, when Lyndon Johnson, criticized for his handling of the Vietnam War, abruptly withdrew from the campaign on March 31.
Biden also joins James K Polk, James Buchanan, Rutherford B Hayes, Calvin Coolidge and Harry Truman as presidents who decided not to run for a second elected term.
Biden faced calls to step aside after his shaky debate performance against Trump raised troubling questions about his mental acuity.
Since he stepped aside, however, Democrats have rallied around him, paying tribute to his character and record as president.
A crowd of staffers filed into the White House earlier in the evening to watch the speech together. One official said a reception and “watch party” was being held on the White House floor.
The White House has denied that Biden has cognitive problems despite a recent spike in verbal gaffes.
Biden said he will focus on his job as president during his remaining six months in office. He will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to discuss efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.
It was the fourth time Biden has used the formal setting of the Oval Office since taking office in 2021. His last Oval Office address was on July 15, when he urged Americans to cool down political rhetoric after the attempted assassination of Trump.
Biden's political career began when he was elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, making him the sixth-youngest US senator. He will conclude his term in the White House on January 20, 2025, as the oldest US president when he will have already turned 82.
“Defending democracy is more important than any title,” Biden said. “It gives me strength and it gives me joy to work for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our Union is not about me. It’s about you. About your families. About your future. It’s about ‘We the People.’”
