President Biden ended his re-election campaign on Sunday after a post-debate slump in national and swing-state polls. In less than four weeks, his position had deteriorated in three Rust Belt states crucial to his re-election, as former President Donald J. Trump’s once narrow polling leads grew wider.

Mr. Biden fell again in the polls after a gunman’s attempted assassination of Mr. Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The president lost support in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as other swing states where he had already been trailing by four to five points.

Mr. Biden’s path to the presidency narrowed as his standing in the swing-state polls dropped, most likely a factor in his decision to drop out of the race. Multiple Democratic officials publicly shared their concerns about recent polling trends in urging him to step aside.

Polls and the Electoral College

Might the polls have been wrong, or have underestimated support for Mr. Biden? It’s possible, but his deficit was nearing the edges of the biggest polling misses in recent elections. Assuming the polls did not change before Election Day, he would have needed the polling margins in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan to miss by at least five points in his favor.

The Times has published an update to its polling averages that shows Mr. Trump with a narrow national lead over Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the most likely Democratic nominee. Most of the polls were conducted before she was a candidate, and there are currently few or no polls of the new matchup at the state level. It may take at least a week or two to gain a broader understanding of how Ms. Harris’s entry will affect the race.

The left-wing organization Black Lives Matter is resisting the installation of Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee and are calling on the Democratic National Convention “to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates.” 

In a statement Tuesday, the group, which rose to prominence in 2020 for organizing nationwide protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, said that “a 24-hour process of talking to party bosses is not democratic, nor is it a process Democrats should be proud of.” 

For weeks after his disastrous debate performance last month, internal party pressure mounted against President Joe Biden to drop out of the race — though he resisted those calls and insisted he was “in it to win it.” 

But abruptly, over the weekend, Biden dropped out of the race and nominated Harris to lead the top of the ticket. And overnight, the Democratic Party coalesced around her, winning enough delegate support to secure the nomination at the DNC convention in August. 

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But, BLM, a group that predominantly aligns with the Democrat Party, is calling foul on the play. 

“We do not live in a dictatorship. Delegates are not oligarchs. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites,” the group said in a statement. 

“Black Lives Matter demands that the [DNC] immediately host an informal, virtual snap primary across the country prior to the DNC convention in August.”

“We call for the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates. The current political landscape is unprecedented, with President Biden stepping aside in a manner never seen before. This moment calls for decisive action to protect the integrity of our democracy and the voices of Black voters,” it said.

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A black lives matter t-shirt during a “Hands Up, Dont Shoot” demonstration in front of the San Francisco Hall of Justice on December 18, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Democratic Party elites and billionaire donors are attempting to manipulate Black voters by anointing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the new Democratic ticket without a primary vote by the public,” the group stated. 

“This blatant disregard for democratic principles is unacceptable. While the potential outcome of a Harris presidency may be historic, the process to achieve it must align with true democratic values,” it continued. 

“We have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on the issues, now that she has assumed Joe Biden’s place, and we have no idea of the record of her potential vice president because we don’t even know who it is yet.” 

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Shalomyah Bowers speaks onstage during the NBJC Equity March on June 15, 2024, in Washington, DC.  (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)

Shalomyah Bowers, a BLM leader, said, “This is not an attack on Kamala Harris or Black women, and right now we aren’t questioning Kamala’s qualifications or capabilities. This is about the nominating process.”

“Those of us who care about the principles of democracy cannot be serious about installing Kamala Harris and an unknown vice president as the Democratic nominee without any semblance of a people-powered process,” Bowers said.

“Not delegates and party elites, but actually asking communities across the country if they believe this should be the democratic ticket. Anything less is unserious in the quest for democracy.”

Efforts to reach the Harris campaign for comment were unsuccessful at press time. 

President Biden will address the nation on Wednesday after his decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election. 

Biden will speak to the American people about why he decided to exit the race and what he plans to focus on for the remaining six months of his first term. His address will be delivered from the Oval Office, the White House said. 

The president is expected to be seen in public for the first time in six days on Tuesday as he returns to the nation’s capital from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Biden has not appeared publicly since reportedly testing positive for COVID-19 last week. His only public remarks on his stunning decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election came Monday during a brief phone call into the campaign headquarters of Vice Presidential Kamala Harris, who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. 

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According to the president’s public schedule, Biden will depart from Delaware at 12:30 p.m. He will then fly from Dover Air Force Base to Joint Base Andrews to return to the White House at around 2:30 p.m. The president will receive his daily briefing at 3 p.m. There are no public events on his schedule. 

In a letter released on X Sunday, Biden said he believes it is in the “best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and 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,” he added, though he gave no details on the time, place or manner in which he would speak. 

Last week, Biden began to self-isolate after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19. He was last seen publicly deplaning in Delaware on July 17.

In a letter updating the status of 81-year-old Biden’s medical condition on Friday, the physician to the president, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, wrote that Biden “completed his sixth dose of PAXLOVID this morning.”

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event with NCAA college athletes on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Monday, July 22, 2024. This is Harris’ first appearance since Biden endorsed her to be the next Democratic nominee for president. (Demetrius Freeman/Getty Images)

Biden “is still experiencing a loose, non-productive cough and hoarseness, but his symptoms continue to improve steadily,” O’Connor wrote in the letter released by the White House. 

“His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal,” the doctor said. “His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.” 

The doctor said Biden has the KP .2.3 variant, which accounts for approximately 33.3% of new infections in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

“The President continues to tolerate treatment well and will continue PAXLOVID as planned,” the letter says. “He continues to perform all his presidential duties.” 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Biden on Thursday at the White House.  (Fox News/Getty Images)

Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday at the White House, according to a U.S. official. Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. a little more than 24 hours after Biden announced that he would no longer seek re-election. 

On Wednesday, Netanyahu will give a speech in front of Congress, though Harris reportedly declined to preside over the address, according to the Washington Post. Before departing Israel for D.C., Netanyahu told reporters that his country would stand by the U.S. “regardless [of] who the American people choose as their next president.”

“In this time of war and uncertainty, it’s important that Israel’s enemies know that America and Israel stand together,” the leader said.

Netanyahu also requested a meeting with former President Trump this week, according to Politico. It is unclear if Trump agreed to the meeting.

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report.