How Joe Biden’s campaign unravelled

The speculation is over. Joe Biden has pulled out of the US presidential race.

The president has faced speculation over his fitness to serve another four years – and win November’s election – after a series of high-profile gaffes.

Despite mounting calls for him to step aside, Mr Biden repeatedly vowed to push on, insisting he was the right candidate to defeat Donald Trump.

Follow live: Joe Biden ends his re-election bid

But now the veteran politician has announced his withdrawal from the race, meaning another Democrat will face Mr Trump in November.

What led us to this point? Here Sky News looks at the final weeks of the Biden 2024 campaign.

27 June: The debate

It was among the worst performances in any US presidential debate in history, critics said.

Biden, 81, was hesitant, sometimes stumbled over his words at one point appearing to freeze, less than 10 minutes into the debate.

“We finally beat Medicare,” he said with a misspeak, a sentence that did not make sense and was pounced upon by Mr Trump.

Some Democrats described his performance as an “unmitigated disaster”, “a meltdown”, and “a slow-motion car crash”.

It was in the aftermath of the debate that calls for Mr Biden to step aside started to get much louder.

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28 June: The day after

As fallout from the debate reverberated around the world, senior Democrats sought to show their support for Mr Biden.

Former US president Bill Clinton said he would “leave the debate rating to the pundits”, but said “facts and history matter” when it comes to who to vote for. Barack Obama also voiced his support.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump called Mr Biden “grossly incompetent” and hit out at his performance in the debate.

He poked fun at Mr Biden, saying he “studied so hard” before the debate that he “didn’t know what he was doing”.

1 July: Biden’s family urge him to continue

A few days after the debate, Mr Biden’s family reportedly urged him to stay in the race for president, even as donors discussed possible alternatives.

The family discussed the issue when they met for a photo shoot at Camp David in Maryland and told him he should “keep fighting”.

2 July: Supreme Court immunity ruling

While it certainly was not the decision he wanted from America’s top court, the presidential immunity ruling gave the Biden campaign something to focus on other than his health.

President Biden said the historic ruling violated the principle “there are no kings in America” and means the commander-in-chief can now “ignore the law”.

3 July: ‘I am running’

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running,” Mr Biden vowed on 3 July.

He made the comments on a call and called for his party to unify, saying “when Democrats unite, we will always win, just as we beat Donald Trump in 2020, we’re going to beat him again in 2024”.

5 July: First interview since the debate

Back after the US Independence Day holiday, Mr Biden did his first news interview since the debate.

Speaking to ABC, the president said his performance was a “bad episode” but there are “no indications of any serious condition”.

When asked if he is the same man he was when he took office three years ago, Mr Biden pointed to what he said were his successes over his presidency, adding that he is the “most qualified” to lead the Democrats against Mr Trump.

Read more:
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10 July: George Clooney calls on Biden to drop out

Things escalated several days later when actor George Clooney – a lifelong Democrat, called for the president to leave the race.

Writing in the New York Times, he said: “I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him.

“But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can.”

11 July: The NATO summit gaffe

It had all been going so well. The NATO summit in Washington DC had been running smoothly, welcome news for the Biden campaign which knew his appearances were seen as make or break.

However, speaking at the end of the three-day summit he mistakenly referred to Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin”.

To make matters worse, just a short while later while taking questions from journalists he mixed up the names of Kamala Harris and Mr Trump.

17 July: Biden pulls out of speech after contracting COVID-19

Mr Biden was forced to withdraw from a speech in Las Vegas after contracting COVID-19, a further blow to his efforts to get his campaign firing on all cylinders.

The White House said Mr Biden was experiencing mild symptoms, including “general malaise” from the infection.

Prior to the diagnosis, he was heard sounding unwell in a radio interview.

Meanwhile, California congressman Adam Schiff, a close ally of former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, became the highest-profile House Democrat to call for Mr Biden to drop his re-election bid.

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18 July: Hammer blow as Obama expresses ‘concerns’

Pressure on Mr Biden increased further after former president Barack Obama – for whom Mr Biden served as VP – told allies his path to victory had greatly diminished.

Mr Obama has “concerns” about his ability to remain as the Democratic nominee, two people familiar with his thinking told NBC News, Sky’s US partner.

He sees Mr Biden’s route to victory in November “getting harder”, said one of the sources.

21 July: The moment finally comes – Biden pulls out of the race

After weeks of speculation, the 46th president of the United States of America announced he was ending his bid for a second term.

He 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”.