Biden, 80, is set to formally announce his run for re-election today asking for the chance to ‘finish the job’ betting his record in office will outweigh any age concerns as he will become the oldest president in history to seek a second term
- President Biden is set to announce he will run for re-election in 2024 later today
- 70% say they do not think Biden should run again; 26% say they think he should
President Joe Biden is set to formally confirm that he will run for re-election in 2024 on Tuesday, asking voters to give him more time to ‘finish the job’ started in 2020.
He is betting on his experience will help him heal the ‘soul of the nation’, despite his age and 70% of US adults saying they do not think he should run next year.
Already the oldest US president in history, Biden, 80, would be 86-years-old by the end of a second term.
Close advisors are preparing for a video announcement on Tuesday to coincide with the anniversary of his successful campaign announced 25 April 2019, according to sources via CNN.
During his State of the Union address in February, Biden listed a number of priorities to ‘finish’, including a ban on assault-style weapons and lowering the cost of prescription drugs to codifying a national right to abortion.
Biden speaks about manufacturing jobs and the economy at a computer chip factory in Bay City, Michigan, in November 2022. He is set to announce his bid for re-election Tuesday
High school senior DuWayne Portis Jr. (R) introduces VP Kamala Harris (C) before Biden’s (R) speech at a reception marking Black History Month at the White House on 27 February 2023
Only 26% of US adults – including Republicans – said in an NBC News survey on Sunday that they thought Biden should run for re-election next year.
Among Democrats, 51 percent do not believe he should run.
READ MORE: ‘It’s inconceivable that he’s thinking of running for reelection:’ Trump issues attack on Biden ahead of his plans to announce 2024 campaign – slamming his ‘calamitous failure’ of a presidency and threatening to be Democrats’ ‘worst nightmare’
But the prospect of Donald Trump returning power is likely to unify Democratic voters.
Trump, who would also be 80 by the end of a second term, is the favorite to emerge as the Republican nominee.
He faces his own challenges to re-election, including becoming the first president to face criminal charges.
‘With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection,’ Trump jabbed in a statement Monday.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has emerged as an early alternative, though has not formally made a bid to run.
President Biden pleaded a dozen times in his February State of the Union address to be given the chance to ‘finish the job’ on a range of issues.
The United States faces a number of pressing challenges, both at home and abroad.
The IMF warned this month that the US faces a ‘rocky recovery’ as it looks to build back from the financial uncertainty around the financial sector, high inflation, the war in Ukraine and Covid.
An update released on 11 April forecast 1.6% growth for the US this year, an upgrade on the 1.4% expected in January but down significantly from the 2.8% last year.
It warned of the recent ‘banking turbulence’ in the United States, brought on by the collapse of SVB and Signature Bank in March, and inflationary pressures.
While consumer spending and a robust job market have helped confidence since January, the overall picture is still ‘clouded’ by uncertainty, the IMF said.
The President also faces questions on how to proceed with possible foreign dangers.
Biden has backed billions in humanitarian, financial and military aid to war-torn Ukraine.
The US has been the biggest backer of the Ukrainian war effort, followed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
But it is increasingly divided on whether or not to continue sending funds directly to Ukraine to support the war effort.
Trump and likely presidential candidate Ron DeSantis have been less supportive of sending aid.
This comes as Ukraine warns it could run out of air defenses by May at the current rate of use, which have since early last year prevented the Russian advance further west into Europe.
The US also faces a perceived threat from China, with President Xi Jinping urging his armed forces this month to strengthen training for ‘actual combat’.
The US has reaffirmed its commitment to the defense of Taiwan in the Taiwan Relations Act as China rises to challenge American military and financial hegemony.
An NBC News poll released Sunday showed that 70 percent of U.S. adults said they didn’t want Biden to run for president again. Among Democrats the number stood at 51 percent
Joe Biden and wife Dr. Jill Biden wave to the crowd at the end of a campaign kickoff rally 18 May, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biden originally seemed ready to announce his 2024 reelection bid after the holidays.
He said he would discuss it with family on trips to Nantucket and St. Croix, but it was delayed for months.
Meanwhile the race saw Biden attract two Democratic challengers – albeit longshots – first self-help guru Marianne Williamson and then Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who gave an announcement speech Wednesday in Boston.
Williamson, 70, is a social justice activist, best-selling author and former ‘spiritual advisor’ to Oprah Winfrey.
She would support universal government-run healthcare, free childcare, at least $1trn in slavery reparations to black Americans.
Kennedy, 69, is the nephew of President John F Kennedy and the son of attorney General Bobby Kennedy.
He is one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaxxers, finding a wider audience during the pandemic.
Still, a poll last week found that he starts off with 14 percent of Biden’s voters, while the sitting president retains 67 percent, according to a USA Today/Suffolk poll.
The president and first lady walk hand-and-hand to the Rose Garden Monday. At the event he was asked about a report that said he would announce his 2024 run on Tuesday
Marianne Williamson (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr (right) are set to challenge Biden for Democratic nomination
Biden’s primary competition on the Republican side, Trump, announced his run historically early.
He gave a speech on November 15 – a week after the 2022 midterms – at Mar-a-Lago to say he was getting in.
Since then, Trump’s former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley said she was running for the GOP nomination, while fellow South Carolinian, Sen. Tim Scott, formed an exploratory committee.
The lesser known former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has also announced a bid, as has entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Larry Elder, the Republican challenger to California Gov. Gavin Newsom in the 2021 recall race, jumped into the race Thursday.
Also flirting with a run: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others.
Biden entered the 2020 race talking about the 2017 incident in Charlottesville, Virginia – in which white supremacist hate groups gathered and a counter-protester was murdered.
In a lengthy statement on Monday night, Trump decried the idea that Biden would even stand
Biden held his first rally of the 2020 cycle in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 29, 2019. Pennsylvania was won by former President Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, but flipped back to blue when Biden was on the ballot in 2020
In 2019, Biden hit the campaign trail almost immediately by headlining a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – an important swing state.
It’s unclear when Biden would hit the campaign trail even if he announced Tuesday, as he’s due to host South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for the second state dinner of his administration on Wednesday.
The South Korean delegation arrives Tuesday night.
And then Saturday marks this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which the president traditionally attends.
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