US President Joe Biden is withdrawing from the election campaign. He is no longer available for a second term. This is what the press is commenting on.
After weeks of wrangling over his renewed candidacy for US President, Joe Biden has come to the realization: he can’t continue the election campaign. In a long letter, the incumbent head of state announced that his active political career will soon be over and that he is leaving the field to another candidate. Biden has already spoken out in favor of his vice president, Kamala Harris – the party must now decide in a hurry who to put forward in the race.
Biden received a lot of recognition worldwide for his decision. Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed on X: “My friend Joe Biden has achieved a lot: for his country, for Europe, for the world. Thanks to him, transatlantic cooperation is close, NATO is strong, and the USA is a good and reliable partner for us. His decision not to run again deserves recognition.”
Criticism came primarily from Biden’s political opponents, especially US presidential candidate Donald Trump. “The corrupt Joe Biden was never in a position to run for president again – and equally incapable of holding the office,” the 78-year-old wrote on his network “Truth Social.” His vice president, JD Vance, agreed and called Biden’s resignation “fraud.”
Withdrawal of Joe Biden: “It was the panic in his party against which Biden was ultimately powerless”
This is how newspapers and media comment on the cancellation:
“Mirror”: Joe Biden has done the country and the world a service with his decision to drop out of the presidential race. He has done what Donald Trump always claims to do – put the well-being of the country before his own ambitions. Biden has achieved more in three and a half years than most of his predecessors: The US economy is booming. He has launched a massive infrastructure project to combat climate change. And he has not only united NATO after the Russian attack on Ukraine, but made it stronger. It is a record he can be proud of.
“FAZ”: It was the panic in his party that ultimately left Biden powerless. Apparently, many influential Democratic politicians feared that the election would be lost across the board: not just the race for the White House, but also the battle for Congress. Almost every politician is powerless against such resistance. You can’t campaign against your own people. The Democrats are embarking on an uncertain experiment just before the election.
“Augsburg General”: In elections, no cards are handed out for the past. It is about the question of who the population has more faith in for the future. And since that evening on TV when Biden could no longer explain his own policies, Donald Trump, pumped up with narcissistic testosterone and mafia-like ruthlessness, has been pitted against a nice old man who seems increasingly fragile and senile. As unfair as some remote diagnoses of Biden’s mental state may be, what counts is the public impression. And that is catastrophic. No one can seriously believe that the president can continue to hold office fully resiliently for another four and a half years. Biden was in the process of destroying his political legacy. Now, literally at the last minute, he is changing course. It is a liberating move for the country.
“New York Times”, USA: President Biden’s decision not to run in the 2024 presidential election is a fitting end for a man whose life was dedicated to public service. Mr. Biden has served the nation well as president. By agreeing to step down at the end of his term in January, he greatly increases the chance that his party can protect the nation from the dangers of a Donald Trump return to the presidency. Biden has now done what Trump will never do: He has put the national interest above his own pride and ambition.
“The Sun”, Great Britain: Even the most powerful office in the world has its limits, as support from celebrities, prominent ex-presidents and Washington power brokers wanes. Biden’s team could only lie about the president’s true mental state for so long, and they have brought shame on that office for so long by attempting to do so. Their willfully blind efforts to force another four years on America and the world of someone so clearly unfit for the office should go down in U.S. history as the greatest cover-up since Watergate or Clinton’s extracurricular activities in the West Wing. While Biden’s abysmal performance at the June debate tipped the scales in yesterday’s election defeat, his fist-in-mouth faux pas at the NATO birthday party earlier this month was the final death blow.
“Corriere della Sera”, Italy: Donald Trump, who escaped martyrdom and returned from a triumphant Congress, remains hard to beat. But now that Biden has retired, he too suddenly looks very old and sometimes confused. For his people, he is more than a charismatic leader, even the messenger of the Almighty. But the laws of politics are merciless and betrayal is always lurking around the corner.
“Guardian”, Great Britain: President Biden’s resignation is just the latest twist in this extraordinary race – and could be the turning point Democrats have been hoping for. Age is no longer an issue for them and the campaign could refocus, with Kamala Harris as the standard bearer.
“Los Angeles Times”, USA: When President Biden announced on Sunday that he was abandoning his re-election bid, he admirably put his party and the country ahead of his personal interests. The fact that he did so in response to growing calls within the party does not make his decision any less statesmanlike. His willingness to step down, and the respectful calls from other Democrats to do so, provide a striking contrast to the Republican Party, which has a cult-like focus on the supposed indispensability of Donald Trump.
“Boston Globe”, USA: Americans owe a lot to President Biden. Future generations will remember him for bringing decency back to the White House after the tumultuous years of the Trump administration, for defending democracy at home and overseas, for passing bipartisan infrastructure legislation that seemed impossible in a Washington so divided, and for leading the greatest effort of any American president to date to address climate change. This legacy, achieved in less than four years, would make many two-term presidents pale in comparison. And with his announcement Sunday that he will not seek a second term, Biden took an important step toward securing that legacy. By dropping out of the race, he is giving his fellow Democrats a fighting opportunity to secure the White House and prevent former President Donald Trump, who would seek to undo everything Biden accomplished, from returning to power.
“Irish Times”, Ireland: The decision was visibly difficult for a politician who has consistently defied polls and expert opinion in the past and is the only Democrat to defeat Trump in an election. The reason Biden was under so much pressure was because so much is at stake. The prospect of a second Trump presidency poses a real threat to American democracy and its international allies. Biden’s withdrawal allows Democrats to regroup in a campaign they seem to still have the potential to win. While it was a painful and difficult decision, it will also help secure Biden’s legacy as president and represents a final act of service to his country and its democratic values.
