In a letter posted to his Twitter/X account., President Joe Biden has announced his will not seek re-election this year.
About a half hour later, he again made it official noting he was choosing to, "Focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
Biden said he would speak to the nation later this week with more detail about the decision. He immediately threw his support and endorsement behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President," the later tweet read. "And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.
The Democratic National Convention, where the party will nominate its candidate, will be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Biden, 81, becomes the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to not seek re-election.
In that letter, written on his personal letterhead rather than the President's official letterhead earlier Sunday afternoon, Biden said it has been "the greatest honor of my life to serve as President."
"And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the county for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
"I believe today what I always have: there is nothing America can't do - when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America."
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump had a swift response on his social media site, Truth Social, noting, "Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve."
"All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t - And now, look what he’s done to our Country, with millions of people coming across our Border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists. We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly."
Other Republican leaders, like Sen. Rick Scott, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Trump running mate J.D. Vance doubling down, demanding Biden resign from office.
"Let me be clear, if Joe Biden can't run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign today," Scott said in a press release Sunday.
"If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President," Johnson said on his own Twitter/X feed. "He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough."
