What reasons did Joe Biden give for leaving the race? Health? Age? Pressure from colleagues?

Barely four months before the presidential elections in November, President Joe Biden gave in to calls for him to give up his bid for a second term at the White House.

His poorly perceived performance at the presidential debate with Trump on June 27 triggered media outlets to clamor for his withdrawal from the race. Democrats, among them high-ranking lawmakers, eventually joined these calls. Celebrity supporters, including George Clooney, appealed to Biden to step down as well.

The president had a primetime interview on July 5 with journalist George Stephanopoulos on ABC to do some damage control, but his explanation as to why he performed poorly at the CNN debate did not appear to assuage the growing worries of members of his party.

Biden still insisted that he would not step aside, saying that average Democrats wanted him to continue his campaign.

However, the 81-year-old has finally thrown in the towel.

What reasons did Joe Biden give for leaving the race? Health? Age? Pressure from colleagues?

In Biden’s announcement, he did not give a specific reason for his resignation, stating only that it is in the “best interest of my party and the country”. He said that he would speak to the nation later in the week in more detail.

At a NATO news conference, Biden had told reporters that he would drop out only if the polls showed he could not win, but a week after that, he said he’d consider dropping out if a health issue emerged and doctors advised him to do so. Not long after that, Biden got sick with covid-19.

“It’s been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote. “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.”