US President Joe Biden has announced that he no longer intends to seek reelection, a decision that follows weeks of mounting pressure from some Democratic Party supporters, including investors and prominent technology executives.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your president,” Biden said in A declaration“And while I intend to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interests of my party and the country for me to step aside and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
In a later postBiden offered his “full support and endorsement” to Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s nominee.
The announcement comes after Biden’s appearance at the June 27 presidential debate reignited concerns about the 81-year-old candidate’s age, prompting some parts of the Democratic Party and its donor base — including notable names in the tech world — to pressure him to step down.
Venture capitalist Michael Moritz said this week that Biden must step downand he said he was suspending his donations to the Democratic Party in the meantime. Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix and Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus had also called on Biden to withdraw from the race.
Another VC, Ted Dintersmith, co-author of a plan for a proposed “flash primary” process designed to select Biden’s replacement. Other tech Democrats were visible in the process, though their positions on Biden were less clear — Harris met with group of Silicon Valley donors including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on Friday.
Since Biden announced he was stepping down, Hoffman said“I wholeheartedly support Kamala Harris and her candidacy for President of the United States in our fight for democracy in November.” Hastings did not endorse Harris but said Democrats “now have hope” and said party delegates “must pick a winner in a key state.”
The announcement also comes after the week-long Republican National Conventionwhere former President Donald Trump officially accepted the party’s nomination and nominated J.D. Vance (a former vice chancellor of close ties to Silicon Valley) as his running mate. X owner Elon Musk has declared his support for Trumpas did Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitzwho said that “the future of our business, the future of technology and the future of America are at stake” in this election.
Biden’s term has been eventful for tech: he signed the CHIPS Act with 52.7 billion dollars aimed at revitalizing domestic semiconductor production, Electric vehicle and battery manufacturing fundedAnd signed another bill that would ban TikTok if its parent company ByteDance does not sell the app. It also appointed FTC chairman who has shown himself more than willing to challenge big tech companies on antitrust issues.
