Biden passes the torch: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to a special Sunday edition of From the Politics Desk, bringing you NBC News’ latest reporting and analysis on President Joe Biden’s monumental decision to drop out of the 2024 race.

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Biden drops out and endorses Harris, upending the 2024 election

President Joe Biden delivered a political earthquake Sunday afternoon, announcing that he would end his re-election campaign. The decision brings an abrupt and humbling conclusion to his half-century-long political career and scrambles the race for the White House just four months before Election Day.

Peter Nicholas writes that the 81-year-old Biden ultimately could not reverse growing sentiment within his party that he was too frail to serve and was destined to lose to Donald Trump in November. He backed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee.

“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 wrote in a letter posted on X. “I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”

Biden thanked Harris for “being an extraordinary partner” in his letter and then endorsed her in a subsequent post. The two spoke multiple times Sunday ahead of the announcement, according to a source familiar with the campaign.

Harris in the driver’s seat: Biden’s endorsement of Harris, 59, puts her at the front of the pack to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. Harris, the first female vice president, would become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to