US President Joe Biden, who was all set to contest for his second term in office in the upcoming presidential elections has announced his withdrawal. In a letter addressed to the people of America, he said that it had been the greatest honour of his life to serve as your president. With less than 5 months left for the elections, Biden's withdrawal has left a vacuum that the Democrats will soon look to fulfil against the Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump. While Biden's decision to stand down is surprising, it was not unprecedented. Here are some of the reasons that pushed the Democrats and especially Biden towards this decision.
1. Presidential Debate fiasco: In the presidential debate against the Republican Donald Trump, Biden witnessed humiliation as he performed underwhelmingly. He fumbled while advocating his administration's steps and policy initiatives. Although his party called it an effect of cold, Trump turned the debate in his favour by taking a jibe at him. On the question of why should voters “trust” him to resolve the crisis at the border, Biden pointed to the bipartisan border security deal and then misspoke before concluding. He said, “I’m going to continue to move until we get to total ban — on the total initiative relative to what we’re going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers.” Reacting to the statement, Trump said, “I don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
2. Age concern: Biden is one of the oldest candidates to contest for the office in US history. Since the day of his announcement of reelection bid, apprehensions have been raised about his age and effectiveness as the President. According to an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a majority of people doubt his mental capability to be president. He had recently admitted that he was not as young as he used to be, and does not walk as easily or speak as smoothly, but that he had wisdom and decades of experience, which were worth a whole lot.
3. Most unpopular leader: But voters had other problems with him, too — he has been deeply unpopular as a leader even as his administration steered the nation through recovery from a global pandemic, presided over a booming economy and passed major pieces of bipartisan legislation that will impact the nation for years to come. A majority of Americans disapprove of the way he’s handling his job, and he’s faced persistently low approval ratings on key issues including the economy and immigration.
Biden’s age surfaced as a major factor during an investigation of his handling of classified documents. Special counsel Robert Hur said in February that the president came across in interviews with investigators as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
4. Immense pressure: The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out the former president’s many falsehoods.
