Joe Biden ends US re-election campaign in the 'best interest of the country'

Joe Biden has ended his US re-election campaign, saying withdrawing from the race was in the 'best interest of my party and the country'.

The US President, 81, issued a statement to social media on Sunday (July 21). He said it had been the 'greatest honour' to serve as the country's president.

It comes four months before Americans go to the polls and weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats after a debate against Republican Donald Trump at the end of last month.

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His performance in the debate raised open questions about his ability to mount a convincing campaign to defeat Mr Trump.

In a letter shared online, Biden penned: "My Fellow Americans, over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a nation."

In his statement, Joe Biden also endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democrat presidential candidate.

He continued: "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, 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.

"I will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about my decision. For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work.

"And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me. I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can't do - when we do it together. We just