Ex-presidents react to Biden's exit from 2024 race
US President Barack Obama, surrounded by US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (L) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USMC General Joseph Dunford, Jr, (R) delivers a statement from the Roosevelt Room on Afghanistan at the White House in Washington US July 6, 2016. [Photo: Reuters]
Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton reacted Sunday to President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the November presidential race.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
In his statement, Obama praised Biden as "one of America’s most consequential presidents" and "a patriot of the highest order."
"President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration," he said.
However, he fell short of endorsing Harris in his statement.
Clinton said Biden "has capped his extraordinary career of service with a Presidency that has lifted America out of an unprecedented pandemic, created millions of new jobs, rebuilt a battered economy, strengthened our democracy, and restored our standing in the world.”
"We join millions of Americans in thanking President Biden for all he has accomplished, standing up for America time and again, with his North Star always being what's best for the country," he and his wilfe Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement.
The Clintons endorsed Harris and said they "will do whatever we can to support her.”