Joe Biden announces who he endorses for President as 'it's time to come together and beat Trump'

The Potus said "it is in the best interest of my party" to stand down and "focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term".

In a second post on X, he referred to picking Harris as his running mate in 2020 as "best decision" he's made.

He wrote: "My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term.

"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.

"Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this."

Harris will become the first African American woman at the top of a presidential ticket.

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Although Biden will not seek re-election, he said he's not stepping down as US president and will stay in the White House for the final six months of his term until January when his successor will be sworn in.

It is unclear whether other senior Democrats would challenge Harris for the party's nomination or whether the party itself would choose to open the field for nominations.

The 59-year-old has been widely seen as the pick for many party officials.

His announcement comes after 37 Democratic lawmakers publicly called for the president to pass the torch to a different candidate.

Several influential Democrats, including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, reportedly also called on Biden to drop out in private.

Following his announcement, Donald Trump claimed Biden will go “down as the single worst President by far in the history of our country” in an interview with CNN.

Trump also took to Truth Social, saying Biden was “not fit to run for President.”

He wrote: “We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly."

He also told CNN that he believes Harris will be easier to defeat than Biden.