Biden’s decision to drop out crystallized Sunday. His staff knew one minute before the public did

WASHINGTON (AP) — At 1:45 p.m. Sunday, President Joe Biden’s senior staff was notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public.

It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in.

His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.

In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sick with COVID-19, the first lady with him as he talked it through with a small circle of people who have been with him for decades.

What to know:

• Biden drops out: The president ended his reelection bid and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after a disastrous debate inflamed age concerns. Read Biden’s letter announcing his withdrawal.
• What happens next: How Biden passing the baton to Harris might work.
• Praise, calls for resignation: Democrats hailed Biden’s decision as selfless while Republicans urged him to resign.
• Inside Biden’s legacy: Historians and political advisers say history will be kinder to Biden than voters have been.
• Broken barriers: Harris could become the first Black woman, person of south Asian descent to head major party’s presidential ticket.

“This has got to be one of the hardest decisions he’s ever made,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., the president’s closest ally in Congress, who spoke with him Sunday. “I know he wanted to fight and keep going and show that