Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the news that Joe Biden is pulling out of the U.S. presidential race by calling him a “true friend” and a “partner to Canadians.”
“I’ve known President Biden for years. He’s a great man, and everything he does is guided by his love for his country,” Mr. Trudeau said in a July 21 statement on social media. “To President Biden and the First Lady: thank you.”
Mr. Biden announced on July 21 that he will not seek re-election this fall in the 2024 presidential election.
“It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president,” Mr. Biden wrote in a letter posted on social media. “And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
Mr. Trudeau, in his most recent visit to the U.S. to attend the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., told reporters during a July 11 press conference the world was “lucky” to have someone of Mr. Biden’s experience leading the U.S. during such “extraordinarily consequential times.”
Defence Minister Bill Blair, who also attended the summit, took to social media over the weekend to thank Mr. Biden for his leadership, saying his tenure as president made “North America safer, NATO more secure, and Ukraine stronger.”
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“For decades, Joe Biden has been a reliable friend and unwavering partner to Canada,” he wrote in a July 21 X post. “Canada is grateful for President Biden’s friendship and public service.”
U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen also praised Mr. Biden, saying his nearly 50-year political career has “literally defined public service.”
“I have been proud to say that I serve the United States and represent my friend President Biden in Canada,” he wrote in a letter posted to X. “It will continue to be the honour of my lifetime to serve through the remainder of his presidency.”
The news of President Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race comes just days after a July 17 interview in which he said he would only reconsider his decision to run if he had a medical condition.
“If I had some medical condition that emerged,” President Biden said when asked if anything would change his mind about running. “If doctors came to me and said, ‘You got this problem, that problem.’”
Mr. Biden has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 leadership race.
The upcoming Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19–22 in Chicago, Illinois. Originally, the event would have been a coronation for President Biden as the Democratic nominee, but following his resignation, the convention will see an open contest of nearly 4,700 delegates looking for a new challenger to pit against former President Donald Trump in November.
