Joe Biden quits US Presidential Race Live Updates: Kamala Harris says ‘will do everything’ to defeat Trump as Biden quits race
Former US president Barack Obama praised Joe Biden for his ‘outstanding track record’ as the President. In a detailed statement, Obama called Biden a “patriot of the highest order” and listed his achievements and said, “This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started”.
However, Obama refrained from endorsing Harris as the Democratic nominee for President.
He said, “Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.”
The former President also wrote in his statement that Biden has “never backed down from a fight”.
“For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow,” he said.
On further steps of the Democratic Party, he said “We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”