Biden Says Withdraws From Presidential Race, Will Remain President for Rest of Term
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Commenting on Biden's decision, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the subsequent move should be an investigation into the conspiracy among US media and political circles, that concealed the actual situation regarding his mental health, manipulated public opinion, and colluded with one political party.
US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he would withdraw from the presidential race.
"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 said in a statement.
He added that he would address the nation later in the week in more detail.
Biden later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's nominee for US president.
Commenting on the decision, a member of the Albany County Democratic Committee in the state of New York Anton Konev told Sputnik that it is the best thing that could happen now for the Democratic Party.
"It is the best thing that could happen right now for the Democratic Party. It allows the Democratic Party to regroup and to reunite," Konev said on Sunday.
Konev pointed out that Biden’s campaign has become a distraction to the Democratic Party, splitting the party up.
"Now, it is time to reunite. We do know that we do not want a repeat of another four years of President Donald Trump," he said.
The expert emphasized that it is too early to comment on the potential candidate from the Democratic Party but did not rule out that it would be Harris.
"It is most likely going to be Vice President Kamala Harris, but the decision has not been made by the party yet," Konev said.
The Democratic National Convention will be held August 19 to 22 in Chicago. The Democratic presidential nominee is usually confirmed at the convention but this year a nominee could be named sooner in order to avoid any legal challenges from the Republican Party over a ballot issue in Ohio.
Furthermore, more than half of US Democratic senators have already endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party's nominee for US president in the November election, the CNN broadcaster reported on Monday.
At least 27 out of 47 Democratic senators have publicly expressed their support for Harris's candidacy, according to the report. In the US House of Representatives, at least 60 of the party's legislators out of 213 have endorsed the incumbent vice president, CNN reported.
Although Biden supported Harris' candidacy, NBC News reported that Democrats in the US Congress said they want to hold an open process for choosing a Democratic candidate to replace President Joe Biden, rather than quickly nominate Harris.
At the same time, former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, said in a statement that they are "honored to join the president in endorsing Vice President Harris."
Republican nominee and former US President Donald Trump said that it would be easier for him to defeat Harris than Biden.
Interestingly, the former US President and Democrat, Barack Obama, refrained on Sunday from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and expressed confidence that the Democratic Party will be able to organize a process to find the right presidential candidate.
The US presidential election is slated for November 5.
