‘It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president.’ In today’s extract from The Bulletin by Stewart Sowman-Lund, an extraordinary decision by Joe Biden. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.

In breaking news

US president Joe Biden has just ended his campaign for reelection, releasing a statement on Twitter confirming he has dropped out of the race. “It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president. 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.” The statement adds that Biden, who is currently recovering from Covid-19, will speak later in the week about his decision. “For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected.”

In the statement, released shortly before 6am NZT, Biden acknowledged his vice president Kamala Harris – the only person name checked in his statement – but did not explicitly endorse her to be his replacement on the Democratic ticket. However,  in a subsequent statement, the president confirmed he was throwing his “full support” behind Harris. This is clearly not The Bulletin I was expecting to write when I got up this morning, and it is a developing story. Basically every media outlet in the world has a live blog with up to date information – take your pick.

A president under pressure

In many ways it’s not a huge surprise that Biden has decided to quit the race. The writing has been on the wall since a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump last month. Nevertheless, four months out from the election, it is an extraordinary move for a sitting president. Earlier, RNZ’s stalwart political correspondent Simon Marks said that Biden becomes the first president since Lyndon B Johnson to not seek reelection after a first term, but the difference is that Biden had been effectively “hounded” out by his own party. That debate, reported NBC, led to a decline in popularity for the Democratic Party and Biden – 60% of Democrats reported they would prefer someone else as presidential candidate, and 80% expressed concern about Biden’s health. In the weeks since, a wave of Biden allies have called for the president to leave the race.

Perhaps the most influential, though it happened behind the scenes, former president Barack Obama. Far more publicly, in fact splashed across the New York Times, was a highly critical open letter from actor George Clooney. By this morning, more than 30 Democratic lawmakers had called for Biden to step aside.

Who will replace Biden?

As noted above, Biden’s initial statement was notable for the decision not to name vice president Kamala Harris as his intended successor – though he did eventually come out to back her. Nevertheless, whether that will be enough to secure Harris the Democratic nomination remains to be seen. This piece on CBS explains what you need to know about Harris, who has already been a presidential candidate in 2020 before dropping out to join the Biden ticket.

This 1News piece looks at how we ended up in this current situation, and what could happen next. A leadership contest could, as we have seen here in New Zealand, make things messier. Rallying behind one candidate may prove a strong path forward for the Democrats. This CNN report signals that the party could quickly fall in line behind the current vice president. Overseas media has in recent days been speculating who the strongest replacement for Biden would be. Other names being speculated, as the BBC reported, include California’s governor Gavin Newsom (who recently met with our own prime minister Christopher Luxon), former presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

This piece from the Texas Tribunal looks at some of the logistical challenges that come from replacing a presidential candidate, noting that while election day isn’t for a few months, the timeline for confirming who is on the ballot is significantly shorter.

Meanwhile, in the Trump campaign

The recent assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump led some to claim the Republican had already won November’s election. Speaking to CNN, Trump this morning labelled Biden “the single worst president” in the history of the United States and suggested that Kamala Harris would be easier to defeat. The ABC has details of how the Trump campaign is preparing for a potential Harris campaign, reporting that new attack ads are already being prepared and the records of potential other candidates for the Democratic ticket are being dug through.

One thing is for certain: today may mark a major and unprecedented turning point in the race for the White House. But that race is far from over.