Biden Drops Out of Presidential Race

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer President Joe Biden has decided not to seek re-election, having failed to salvage his campaign after a disastrous debate performance on June 27 and a series of televised gaffes. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden said in a statement. “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.” Biden faced public pressure from figures in the Democratic Party as well as Hollywood donors after he stumbled through the CNN debate, in which he failed to counter points made by former President Trump, fumbling his words and often drifting off mid-thought.

Biden was trailing Trump before the debate, and many polls showed him losing ground afterward. Many of his donors and supporters expressed concern about his ability to sustain a campaign, and some elected officials publicly called for him to step aside.

George Clooney, who co-hosted the single largest fundraiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, wrote a July 10 op-ed in The New York Times calling for the president to step down. “We are not going to win in November with this president … this is the opinion of every senator and congress member and governor that I’ve spoken with in private.

Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly,” Clooney wrote. The president also faced pressure from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to reporting from CNN and ABC News.