He has faced dozens of calls from leading Democrats to step down after a difficult performance in a TV debate against Donald Trump last month. Tonight, Mr. Biden said in a statement that it had been the greatest honor to serve as U.S. president and that he would stay on as president for the final six months of his term.

上個月，拜登在與唐納德-特朗普（Donald Trump）的電視辯論中表現不佳，民主黨領軍人物數十次呼籲他下臺。今晚，拜登先生在一份聲明中說，擔任美國總統是他最大的榮幸，他將在任期的最後六個月繼續擔任總統。

He endorsed the vice president, Kamala Harris, to be the next Democrat nominee.

他支持副總統卡馬拉-哈里斯成為下一任民主黨提名人。

And in the last hour, she confirmed that she would be seeking the nomination. Tonight, we'll be asking what finally pushed Joe Biden out and what happens next.

最後一小時，她確認將尋求提名。今晚，我們將詢問是什麼最終促使喬-拜登出局，以及接下來會發生什麼。

But first, I'm joined by our North America editor, Sarah Smith.

但首先，我們的北美編輯莎拉-史密斯（Sarah Smith）也要加入我們的行列。

Sarah, very good to have you.

莎拉，很高興見到你。

What a shock moment.

真是令人震驚的一刻。

What led up to this? Well, there's been near relentless pressure on Joe Biden for just over three weeks now since that disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

是什麼導致了這一切？自從喬-拜登在與唐納德-特朗普的辯論中表現失常以來 已經有三個多星期的時間對他施加了近乎無情的壓力

And initially, he dug his heels in pretty stubbornly and insisted that he was staying in the race and that nobody could push him out.

起初，他非常固執地堅持自己的立場，堅稱自己會留在比賽中，沒有人能把他擠出去。

But the calls for him to go kept coming.

但要求他離開的呼聲不斷。

There was more and more and more Democrats coming out and saying that they thought that he should step aside.

越來越多的民主黨人站出來說，他們認為他應該讓位。

And ultimately, it was some of his very closest allies as well, I think most notably Nancy Pelosi, who knows the Democratic Party inside out and is extremely good at counting votes as well, when she made it clear that she thought that he was in danger of losing to Donald Trump.

最終，他的一些最親密盟友，我認為最值得注意的是南希-佩洛西（Nancy Pelosi），她對民主黨瞭如指掌，而且非常擅長計算選票，她明確表示，她認為他有輸給唐納德-特朗普的危險。

That put pressure on him that obviously, ultimately, he has decided there's no point in carrying on if his own party are going to be coming out against him like this.

這給了他壓力，顯然，最終他決定，如果他自己的黨派都要這樣站出來反對他，那他就沒有必要再繼續下去了。

So that, I think, is probably what led to the president's decision today. Just four days ago, Joe Biden was out campaigning for his re-election, greeting voters in Nevada.

所以，我認為，這可能就是總統今天做出決定的原因。就在四天前，喬-拜登還在內華達州為競選連任向選民問好。

In the days since, he's made the hardest decision of his lengthy political career, to withdraw as the Democratic presidential candidate.

此後幾天，他做出了漫長政治生涯中最艱難的決定--退出民主黨總統候選人的競選。

Writing on social media, Catching Covid was the final nail in his political coffin.

他在社交媒體上寫道："抓住科維德是他政治棺材上的最後一顆釘子。

Calls for him to step aside just kept coming from Democrats who were worried he was on course to lose the election to Donald Trump, who has just enjoyed a very successful week as he accepted his party's nomination. Today, he said, "So will Joe Biden's number two, Vice President Kamala Harris, step into first place now as the presidential candidate?" Not automatically, but he has already given her his backing.

民主黨人要求他讓位的呼聲不斷，他們擔心他會在大選中輸給唐納德-特朗普。今天，他說："那麼喬-拜登的二號人物、副總統卡馬拉-哈里斯現在會成為總統候選人的第一名嗎？不會，但他已經支持她了

Today, I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.

今天，我全力支持並支持卡馬拉成為我們黨今年的提名人。

Ms. Harris says she aims to earn and win the nomination and wants to unite the Democratic Party and the nation to defeat Donald Trump.

哈里斯女士說，她的目標是贏得提名，並希望團結民主黨和全國人民，擊敗唐納德-特朗普。

Hillary Clinton edged out Joe Biden for the party's nomination in 2016 and then went on to lose the election.

2016 年，希拉里-克林頓擊敗喬-拜登獲得黨內提名，但最終輸掉了大選。

Today, both of the Clintons say they are firmly supporting Kamala Harris. But what about some of the other possible contenders?

今天，克林頓夫婦都表示，他們將堅定地支持卡馬拉-哈里斯。但其他一些可能的競爭者呢？

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, seemed to rule herself out, saying, "While the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, said nothing about his intentions as he praised President Biden as an extraordinary history-making president." Welcome to the White House, everybody.

密歇根州州長格雷琴-惠特默 似乎將自己排除在外 她說 "而加利福尼亞州州長加文-紐森 在稱讚拜登總統是一位非凡的創造歷史的總統時 卻隻字未提自己的意圖"歡迎各位來到白宮

Joe Biden will have served 12 years in the White House altogether, eight as vice president to Barack Obama, four in the Oval Office himself.

喬-拜登總共將在白宮任職 12 年，其中 8 年擔任巴拉克-奧巴馬的副總統，4 年在橢圓形辦公室任職。

Mr. Obama today called him one of America's most consequential presidents and a patriot of the highest order. President Biden has been recovering from COVID in the last few days at his beach house in Delaware, and our correspondent Netta Toffee is there for us now.

奧巴馬先生今天稱他為美國最有影響力的總統之一和最高級別的愛國者。過去幾天，拜登總統一直在特拉華州的海濱別墅進行COVID康復治療，本臺記者內塔-太妃（Netta Toffee）正在那裡為我們報道。

Netta, very good to see you.

內塔，很高興見到你

Delaware, very much an oasis for President Biden and somewhere where he has a lot of support.

特拉華州是拜登總統的綠洲，也是他獲得很多支持的地方。

What is the mood and reaction there tonight? Yes, Sumi, where I am at one of the state park beaches is just a few hundred feet away from Joe Biden's home.

今晚那裡的氣氛和反應如何？是的，蘇米，我所在的州立公園海灘距離喬-拜登的家只有幾百英尺遠。

You can see the Secret Service posted behind me and outside of his private community.

你可以看到特勤局的人站在我身後，在他的私人社區外。

They have been moving along those who have stopped to take pictures.

他們一直沿著那些停下來拍照的人前進。

I can tell you that many over the last few days wondered whether Joe Biden was indeed discussing his future while he has been here at this quiet seaside town.

我可以告訴你，在過去的幾天裡，許多人都在猜測，喬-拜登是否真的在討論他的未來，而他一直在這個寧靜的海濱小鎮。

And so while the content of his statement may not have come as a surprise, the timing certainly has.

是以，儘管他發言的內容可能並不令人吃驚，但時機肯定令人吃驚。

Many believing he would have gone to Washington, D.C., would have appeared on camera to Americans to make that statement.

許多人相信他會去華盛頓特區，會出現在美國人的鏡頭前發表這一聲明。

Instead, many here were sunbathing when they got that news, some of them telling me it was surreal to be just a few hundred feet away from it all and to read that he had decided to stand down. I can tell you, Sumi, that across the board, whether you speak to Democrats or Republicans, they all wish President Joe Biden well, and they do feel that this announcement was inevitable, given how it appeared to so many voters that he had declined in recent months.

相反，許多人在得知這一消息時正在享受日光浴，他們中的一些人告訴我，距離這一切只有幾百英尺遠，卻讀到他決定退位的消息，真是超現實。蘇米，我可以告訴你，不管是民主黨人還是共和黨人，他們都希望喬-拜登總統一切順利，而且他們確實覺得這一宣佈是不可避免的，因為在許多選民看來，拜登總統最近幾個月的表現有所下滑。

Nevertheless, there is some apprehension from Democrats about whether the party will be able to unite around a candidate.

儘管如此，民主黨人對該黨能否團結在一位候選人周圍仍心存疑慮。

They mentioned that Kamala Harris hasn't been as seen out in the public.

他們提到，卡馬拉-哈里斯（Kamala Harris）並沒有在公眾面前露面。

Her profile hasn't been built over these last few years by the administration as much as they wish it had, and questioning whether she would be able to beat former President Donald Trump.

在過去的幾年裡，她的形象並沒有像政府希望的那樣得到樹立，人們質疑她是否能夠擊敗前總統唐納德-特朗普。

But from Republicans, again, them saying no matter who they choose, the Democrats, they still feel Donald Trump is in a strong position.

但共和黨人再次表示，無論民主黨人選擇誰，他們仍然認為唐納德-特朗普處於強勢地位。

So at this point, Sumi, all questions on where the Democratic Party goes from here.

是以，在這一點上，蘇米，民主黨何去何從都是個問題。