Biden: ‘I Plan on Running’
President Joe Biden says he’s planning on running for a second term in office. “I plan on running,” he told Al Roker of NBC’s Today during an interview at the White House.
Biden has long been hinting that he’s going to seek reelection, despite the fact that he’d be 82 when he’s inaugurated for a second term, and 86 up leaving the White House at the end of the term. He said following last year’s midterms that “our intention is to run again,” with First Lady Jill Biden reiterating that intention in February. “He says he’s not done,” she told the Associated Press. “He’s not finished what he’s started.” She added that there’s “pretty much” nothing left to do other than decide when Biden is going to formally announce his candidacy.
It’s unclear what kind of challenge Biden might face from within his own party. Robert F. Kennedy, a notorious anti-vaxxer, last week filed paperwork to run for president as a Democrat, but no serious challenger has indicated they might try to win the nomination. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released in February found that only 37 percent of Democrats want Biden to seek reelection. The number was 52 percent ahead of last year’s midterms.
Biden may be in for another matchup with former President Donald Trump, should he win the Democratic nomination. Polling has shown Trump well ahead of his primary competition, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with most other Republican candidates registering meager support.
Trump even received a polling bump after his indictment on felony charges related to paying off porn star Stormy Daniels, and the former president’s potential criminality will undoubtedly be a focal point of the 2024 race — both for Trump, who has used it to claim Democrats are rigging the election against him, and for Biden, who will presumably make some sort of case that it might not be a great idea to install a potential felon in the White House
In addition to the charges brought in Manhattan, Trump is under investigation by the Justice Department for his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election and his handling of classified material after leaving office, and in Georgia for potentially meddling in the state’s election results.
Biden hasn’t said much about Trump thus far, though, and has steered clear of commenting on the indictment. Trump, meanwhile, regularly attacks Biden. He went after Biden by name several times on Easter, and again on Monday morning. “Could somebody please explain to Biden that MAGA means Make America Great Again,” he wrote in one Truth Social post. “Believe it or not, he doesn’t know that.”