U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking publicly for the first time about his decision to drop his bid for reelection, vowed to defend democracy at home and in allies such as Ukraine in the final months of his presidency.
In an address to the nation on July 24, Biden explained his decision to drop out of the November 5 presidential election, saying it was time to put personal ambition to the side and allow a new generation to take over.
Instead of running against Republican rival Donald Trump -- Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's candidate -- the 81-year-old president said he would "keep working to ensure America remains strong and secure and the leader of the free world."
"We’ll keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing more damage. We’ll keep NATO stronger, and I’ll make it more powerful and more united than at any time in all of our history," he said in the 10-minute address broadcast live to the nation.
Throughout his nearly decade-long political career, Trump has praised authoritarian leaders like Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
At times Trump has publicly criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine's defenses as it tries to repel invading Russian troops, while his candidate for vice president, Senator J.D. Vance, helped lead Republican efforts to try and block billions in U.S. military and financial assistance to Kyiv.
During his term in office from 2017 to 2021, Trump tilted the Supreme Court to the right of the political spectrum, sought to overturn the 2020 election results, and -- his critics say -- undermined NATO unity.
Biden and Harris, who attended an international Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland last month, have been staunch supporters of Ukraine and of NATO's role in helping the country.
Biden, whose term officially ends on January 20, 2025, said that with the United States at an inflection point, Harris, 59, is best-placed to run in an election where "the soul of America was at stake."
Biden had sewn up the Democratic Party's nomination for the election, but dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris amid an erosion of support over concerns about his fitness to run because of his age.
He had been under pressure for weeks since a horrendous performance at a debate with Trump, where the president appeared frail and confused at times, raising questions about his physical and mental state.
Biden said he became the first incumbent U.S. president to give up his party's nomination in more than five decades because he needed to unite Democrats, even though he believed his record in the Oval Office merited a second four-year term.
"So I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That's the best way to unite our nation," he said.
"I know there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now."
Trump, who now becomes the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history, immediately slammed Biden, saying in a post on his Truth Social network the address was "barely understandable and so bad."
Harris, a former prosecutor and California senator, would become the first black woman to run at the top of the election ticket for a major party in the country's history if she is confirmed as the Democratic nominee at the party's convention in Chicago that begins on August 19.
"The great thing about America is here kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands," Biden said at the end of his address.