And then the phone rang This is how Biden decided to withdraw - the big transcript

Since the debacle at the debate three weeks ago, Joe Biden has been in a bad way. Now comes his withdrawal. blue News records the days in between.

At 7.47 p.m. Swiss time, Joe Biden dropped the bombshell. "Although it was my intention to run again, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to withdraw from the race and focus entirely on my duties as President for the remainder of my term," he wrote on X.

"Dear fellow citizens..."The wording of Biden's declaration of renunciation

Biden's withdrawal had been expected. In recent weeks, criticism of him has steadily increased, and after the debate debacle in June, many doubted his ability to govern the country for another four years.

blue News shows how the big withdrawal came about.

At the end of June, Joe Biden will face Donald Trump in the big TV debate. The 81-year-old wants to make up ground and is behind Trump in the polls at the time. Biden does attract attention - but not as planned.

Biden loses the thread in his statements. He says things like "We've beaten healthcare". He confuses trillions with billions and centuries with decades, even if he corrects himself afterwards. He speaks softly and sometimes mumbles. "I don't even know what he's talking about," Trump once dismissed him.

Biden himself claims to have identified the reason for his botched performance in the TV duel : Tiredness. The 81-year-old explained his weak performance with exhaustion after a series of strenuous trips abroad.

But this explanation is useless. The criticism is growing. Biden's age is more than ever at the center of attention.

For three weeks, Biden insisted that he still wanted to run against Trump. Various media outlets, including CNN, which were close to the president, increasingly reported on his isolation. Biden had increasingly surrounded himself only with people who supported his race for the next presidency.

Added to this is a dramatic turn of events last weekend. Donald Trump was shot at a campaign event. The failed assassination attempt, the image of a bloodied Trump clenching his fist in victory, dominates news coverage from then on. According to CNN, Biden's team realized that this image would make Trump appear even stronger and could possibly decide the presidential election.

On Wednesday, Biden's team then announced that the 81-year-old had fallen ill with coronavirus and was isolating and recovering in his home state of Delaware. This further isolation only served to increase the criticism of Biden.

Outwardly, Biden's team was always confident. "Yes, he will run and continue his campaign on Monday," his spokeswoman told the media on Friday. Biden himself probably already suspected that the race was over.

On Saturday afternoon, Biden called his close adviser Steve Ricchetti from his retreat. "Steve, I need you and Mike in my house," he said, according to the New York Times. By Mike, he meant Mike Donilon, his chief strategist and longtime speechwriter.

That afternoon, Biden announced to his two companions what he would publicly announce a day later: he would retire. The three of them had worked on the announcement for hours, well into the night.

Only a small circle of friends and long-standing advisors were aware of his retirement at this point, writes the Times. In the evening, the first people sensed that something was happening.

But nothing leaked out. A high-ranking group of Democrats met for a telephone conference at midday on Saturday to discuss the next steps in the election campaign. Biden's possible withdrawal was indeed an issue, say people who were there. But it was primarily about door-to-door canvassing and advertising on social media.

Apart from the three people directly involved, Biden withheld his announcement until the very end. On the CBS programme "Face The Nation", Cedric Richmond, a close friend of Biden's, emphasized that he intends to return to the election campaign next week. "I want to make it very clear that he has made a decision. And that decision is to accept the nomination, run for re-election and win re-election."

It was only after this appearance that Biden informed his first confidants of the decision - first and foremost his Vice President Kamala Harris. According to close associates, Harris herself only found out about Biden's withdrawal at midday on Sunday.

Biden had informed his close staff one minute before the public announcement. He thanked them for their work over the past few years and told them: "We still have a lot of work to do - let's get on with it."

One minute later, at 1.47 p.m. local time, Biden announced the end of his candidacy on X. It was a conscious decision not to appear in front of the cameras, according to his team. Biden wants to make up for it this week.