United States President Joe Biden says in a letter on X he is stepping aside as a candidate in the 2024 election, endorses Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.

Dozens of congressional Democrats had publicly urged the 81-year-old to drop out of the race after his shaky debate performance last month against Republican challenger Donald Trump, 78.

A failed comeback

After his disastrous performance at the June 27 presidential debate, Biden made a series of public appearances meant to reaffirm his ability to project strength, both domestically and abroad.

He hosted NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, DC. He gave televised interviews to news outlets ranging from ABC to BET. And he offered a live speech to the NAACP National Convention, an annual gathering hosted by one of the country’s most prominent civil rights organisations.

But even as Biden embarked on his comeback tour, his verbal slip-ups kept stoking concerns about his age.

On July 11, during the final day of the NATO summit, Biden introduced his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” — the name of his battlefield adversary, as Ukraine attempts to fend off a Russian invasion.

And later that same day, while taking questions from the press, Biden tripped up yet again, referring to “Vice President Trump” instead of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Clintons praise Biden, endorse Harris as presidential candidate

Former US President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have issued a statement praising Biden for his “extraordinary career of service” and endorsing arris.

“We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her,” they said.

The couple had been encouraging Biden to stay in the race, even after his catastrophic presidential debate last month.

How rare is it for sitting US presidents to withdraw?

Biden is the first sitting president since 1968 to drop out of a presidential race.

But in previous decades, others have quit after seeing public support plummet:

        1968 election – Lyndon B Johnson
        1952 election – Harry S Truman
        1884 election – Chester Arthur
        1868 election – Andrew Johnson
        1856 election – Franklin Pierce
        1852 election – Millard Filmore
        1844 election – John Tyler

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