Joe Biden has sensationally announced he won’t stand in the US presidential election against Donald Trump after stepping down as Democrat leader.
The 81-year-old faced mounting pressure to step aside amid concerns about his health, following his disastrous debate performance with Trump. It led to Democrats demanding he reconsider his reelection bid.
Mr Biden had previously insisted he was not going to step down, adamant that he is the candidate who beat Republican Donald Trump before and would do it again this year.
However, publicly and privately, key Democrats – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries – have spoken privately to the president, candidly laying out the views of Democrats on Capitol Hill, including their concerns.
Separately, the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, spoke with the president last week armed with fresh data. The campaign chief specifically aired the concerns of frontline Democrats that were seeking election to the House.
California Rep. Adam Schiff, a close ally of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call for Biden to drop his reelection bid, saying that while the decision is Biden’s alone to make, he believes it’s time to “pass the torch”.
乔·拜登突然宣布，在辞去民主党领袖职务后，他不会参加美国总统选举，与唐纳德·特朗普竞选。 在与特朗普的灾难性辩论后，这位 81 岁的老人因健康状况担忧而面临越来越大的辞职压力。这导致民主党人要求他重新考虑连任竞选。 拜登此前曾坚称他不会下台，坚称他是之前击败共和党唐纳德·特朗普的候选人，今年还会再次这样做。 然而，在公开和私下里，包括参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默和众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在内的关键民主党人都曾私下与总统交谈，坦诚地阐述了国会山民主党人的观点，包括他们的担忧。 另外，民主党国会竞选委员会主席、华盛顿众议员苏珊·德尔贝尼上周带着新数据与总统进行了交谈。这位竞选负责人特别表达了寻求众议院选举的在选民主党人的担忧。 加州众议员亚当·希夫是名誉议长南希·佩洛西的亲密盟友，他成为呼吁拜登放弃连任竞选最引人注目的众议院民主党人，他表示，虽然这一决定是拜登一个人做出的，但他认为现在是“传递火炬”的时候了。”
