Biden drops out of 2024 race against Trump.

President Biden announced Sunday he would not continue his bid for reelection, saying it is in “the best interest” of the Democratic Party and the country to withdraw from the race, and he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee.

The decision came nearly a month after Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance in June, which alarmed Democrats in Washington and sparked discussion about whether he could be replaced on the Democratic ticket.

For weeks, until Sunday, Mr. Biden defied growing calls to step aside and sought to prove he was fit to run.

Here’s what we know about the process to replace 81-year-old Democratic nominee.

Biden had to step aside voluntarily

The president could not be forced to step down from the race because he won the vast majority of the Democratic delegates — close to 4,000 — and had clinched the nomination in March through the party’s primary process. He had to step aside voluntarily, which he has now done.

Replacing Biden on the ticket

Mr. Biden’s decision to step aside before the Democratic convention, which begins on Aug. 19 in Chicago, could bring some chaos, said Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in election law.

“It’s politically messy before the convention but it’s not legally messy,” Muller noted. There was no legal impediment to Mr. Biden’s decision to give up the nomination, but the decision about who will replace Mr. Biden on the ticket will now be left to the thousands of Democratic delegates who were originally allocated to the president, the National Task Force on Election Crises notes, since he stepped aside before the convention.

Mr. Biden has endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the nominee, and a number of top Democrats also quickly announced they’d back her nomination. But it will be up to the delegates to determine the nominee now, and it is not clear yet whether any Democrat will challenge her.

Former President Barack Obama nodded to the uncertainty of the moment soon after Mr. Biden stepped aside from the campaign. He released a statement that praised Mr. Biden and his “outstanding track record,” but did not endorse Harris.

source: cbsnews.com