President Biden, who has lengthy mentioned he ran for the White Home in 2020 as a result of his alarm about former President Donald Trump, determined to exit the 2024 presidential race final month. He says his determination, partially, was pushed by his perception that he wanted to maintain the nation’s deal with Trump and unite the Democratic Occasion forward of the November election.
In an interview with CBS Information Sunday Morning, Mr. Biden informed CBS Information chief election and marketing campaign correspondent Robert Costa extra about his historic determination to not search reelection, echoing his earlier assertion that he would function a transitional determine in American presidential politics.
“When I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president,” Mr. Biden, 81, informed Costa. “I can’t even say how old I am – it’s hard for me to get it out of my mouth.”
Biden expressed assist for Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to be nominated because the Democrats’ standard-bearer on the celebration’s nationwide conference in Chicago this month.
“We must, we must, we must defeat Trump,” Biden mentioned within the interview, which occurred within the Treaty Room within the White Home residence.
“Although it’s a great honor to be a president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do what I– most important thing you can do. And that is — we must, we must, we must defeat Trump,” he mentioned.
Mr. Biden introduced he was exiting the 2024 race and endorsed Harris because the Democratic Occasion’s nominee on Sunday, July 21 — almost a month after his debate towards Trump, which involved a few of his Democratic colleagues and prompted dozens to name for him to withdraw.
In an Oval Workplace tackle on July 24, Mr. Biden mentioned “nothing, nothing, can come in the way of saving our democracy,” together with his ambition for a second time period.
A CBS Information ballot launched on Aug. 4 confirmed Harris gaining momentum with a 1-point edge nationally and a tie throughout the battleground states. Mr. Biden was down by 5 factors when he left the race.
Harris is hoping Tim Walz, the upbeat two-term governor of Minnesota, will give her Democratic ticket one other increase and assist her win over pivotal battleground states.
This story was initially printed by CBS Information on Aug. 11, 2024 at 9:18 a.m. ET.
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