BYE-BYE BIDEN

The frail US president has bowed to public pressure and stepped down - but is it too late for the Democrats to rally?

- JANE VORSTER

IT SEEMED everyone had an opinion about whether he was too old to do his job. It wasn't just people in Joe Biden's own party actors George Clooney and Michael Douglas and bestselling novelist Stephen King also joined the public chorus of voices begging him to quit the presidential race.

But in the end it wasn't Hollywood celebrities or even clued-up advisers who convinced the American president it was time to bow out - it was his family.

For weeks Biden (81) had been weighing up whether to stay in the race following a string of humiliating slip-ups which included muddling the names of world leaders at a Nato summit and seemingly struggling to maintain his train of thought during a disastrous performance against rival Donald Trump in the presidential debate (YOU, 25 July 2024).

But when crunch time came, he made the decision the way he's made every key move in his long political career-by calling a family meeting.

Having been diagnosed with a mild case of Covid, he'd been convalescing at his beach house in Delaware and mulling over his political future. But it was only once he'd sought the advice of his wife, Jill (73), son Hunter (54) and daughter Ashley (43), that Biden, who is by far America's oldest president, finally made the announcement.

"It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your president," he wrote in a post on X. "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."

But while his announcement that he's opted out of the presidential race has been welcomed by many, it doesn't leave much time. With just a few months to go before the November election, the jury is out on whether the Democratic Party will be able to regroup around a new candidate and stop Trump from winning another four years in the White House.