Joe Biden, in a public call on Monday, July 22 into his campaign headquarters, which has transitioned to supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, said "the mission hasn't changed" since his Sunday announcement of dropping out of the race. The President, who will still serve until the end of his term and is determined to keep working to end the war in Gaza, acknowledged that his decision was "the right thing to do" and urged his people to "embrace" Harris.

"I want to say to the team, embrace her. She's the best," Biden said from his beach home where he is recovering from Covid. "I know yesterday's news is surprising and it's hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do," he added.

Speaking on one of his bigger goals during his final months in office, he addressed his efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war, which has been going on since last October.

"I'll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end, and Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home."

Biden, whose voice sounded a touch gravelly, added during the call: “If I didn’t have Covid, I’d be standing there with you."

The President was last seen in public late Wednesday after arriving at a US air base in Dover, Delaware, after testing positive for Covid-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas earlier in the day. He then motorcaded to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.