BIDEN QUITS

President caves in to pressure after disastrous debate | 'Stands down in interest of party and the country' | 81-year-old backs Kamala Harris as his replacement | Trump: Biden is worst President in history of U.S.

- Martyn Brown

JOE Biden dramatically quit the US presidential race last night, saying: "It is in the best interest of my party and the country".

His seismic decision could pave the way for Republican rival Donald Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on July 13, to claim victory.

Biden, 81, stepped aside after facing weeks of questions over his fitness to serve following his disastrous presidential debate performance that sparked a series of fumbles he could not recover from. He is the first President to step aside from a re-election race since Lyndon Johnson in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War.

Democrat Mr Biden plans to serve out the rest of his term in office, which ends on January 20 next year. His historic exit comes after a 50-year career in politics in which he was Vice President to Barack Obama.

After telling close aides of his decision to step aside at 6.45pm UK time Mr Biden posted a letter on his social media account, saying it had been the greatest honour of his life to be President.

He added: "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 the duties as President for the remainder of my term."