Incumbent United States President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 US presidential race.
"I have decided not to seek re-election and will focus all my energy on the duties of the presidency for the remainder of my term," Biden said on his personal Instagram account on Sunday, July 21, 2024.
He subsequently nominated the current US Vice President, Kamala Harris, to run for president in his place.
"I want to give my full support to Kamala as the Democratic Party nominee this year. It's time to unite and defeat Trump," Biden stated.
According to confidential sources cited by Reuters, Joe Biden withdrew after reviewing unpromising presidential election polls.
"Two of our sources say Joe Biden made the decision to withdraw from the race on Sunday, after 48 hours of reviewing polling data that showed the path to victory had closed," the Reuters journalists reported on Monday, July 22, 2024.
"According to one of our sources, Biden's top aides showed him internal polling data indicating that Biden was not only trailing in six key swing states, but also struggling elsewhere," they added.
This Reuters information aligns with findings from FiveThirtyEight, a data analysis firm from ABC News, which shows Biden trailing Trump in polls.
FiveThirtyEight compiled data from dozens of polling firms conducting US presidential polls in early July 2024 and calculated the average vote share.
As of July 21, 2024, the average showed Biden receiving 40.2% of the vote, while his opponent, Donald Trump, received 43.5%.