Ben Sills | Bloomberg News (TNS)
World leaders paid tribute to Joe Biden after the U.S. president announced that he won’t be standing for reelection in November. He is the first sitting president since 1968 to drop out of a presidential race.
Biden, 81, had been under intense pressure from senior figures in the Democratic party to step aside after a catastrophic debate performance against Donald Trump last month fueled doubts about whether he would be able to beat his Republican rival and raised alarm about mental acuity.
The prospect of a return to the White House for the 78-year-old Trump had traditional U.S. allies in Europe bracing for a more abrasive and transactional foreign policy, with the focus away from Ukraine and with tariffs deployed as a geo-economic weapon on China and Europe.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the front-runner to take over, although she isn’t that well known in Europe and Asia. Here are reactions from leaders around the globe:
Donald Tusk, Polish Prime Minister
“Mr. President @JoeBiden, you have many times made difficult decisions that made Poland, America and the world safer, and democracy and freedom stronger,” Tusk said on X. “I know you had the same in mind when you announced your last decision. Perhaps the hardest thing in life.”
Simon Harris, Irish Prime Minister
“Joe Biden, in all the offices he has held, has always been an unwavering voice and passionate worker for peace on the island of Ireland and our country owes him a great debt for this, Harris wrote on X. “On a personal level, President Biden is a proud American with an Irish soul. When he arrived into Belfast, Louth and Mayo last year he himself said it was like coming home.”
Pedro Sanchez, Spanish Prime Minister
“All my admiration and respect for the brave and dignified decision by President @JoeBiden,” Sanchez said on X. “Thanks to his determination and leadership, the U.S. overcame the economic crisis after the pandemic and the grave assault on the Capitol and been exemplary in its support for Ukraine.”
“A grand gesture from a great president who always fought for democracy and freedom.”
Petr Fiala, Czech Prime Minister
“It is undoubtedly the decision of a statesman who has served his country for decades,” Fiala said on X. “It is a responsible and personally difficult step, but it is all the more valuable. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the U.S.A. that a good president emerges from the democratic competition of two strong and equal candidates.”
Isaac Herzog, Israeli President
“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Joe Biden for his friendship and steadfast support for the Israeli people over his decades long career,” Herzog said on X. “As the first US President to visit Israel in wartime, as a recipient of the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor, and as a true ally of the Jewish people, he is a symbol of the unbreakable bond between our two peoples. I send him, Jill Biden, and all his family, my warmest wishes from Jerusalem.”
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president
Lula considers that U.S. Democrats still have time to turn the tables as the appointment of a new candidate creates an opportunity to boost support among voters and donors, according to two foreign affairs advisers to the Brazilian leader.
Lula and his government see Kamala Harris with great sympathy. She may be able to win the female vote — something that eluded Hillary Clinton in 2016 — because society is changing and misogyny is ever less tolerated, the advisers said. That should make it more difficult for Trump to attack Harris, they said. Their thinking: While it’s easy for Trump to call Biden senile, it will be more complicated to attack a Black woman without offending millions of female voters in the country.
With assistance from Andrea Dudik, Natalia Ojewska, Alex Morales, Daryna Krasnolutska, Jorge Valero and Simone Iglesias.
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