President Joe Biden said «today is the show co-host Al Roker on Monday that he plans to run for a second term.
“I plan to run, Al, but we’re not ready to announce it yet,” he said.
Biden, 80, has always stated his plans to run for re-election. In a private conversation at the White House last year, he told the Rev. Al Sharpton that he will seek a second term, the civil rights leader told his National Action Network staff in Washington, NBC News reported.
“I’m going to do it again,” Biden said last year while posing for a photo in the Roosevelt Room with Sharpton, according to a National Action Network official who recounted the description of the MSNBC host. «Go.»
Biden’s comments come as top White House advisers prepare to make final decisions on launching his re-election campaign, multiple sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News. Several considerations in the decision-making process include that no major Democratic challenger has emerged; that former President Donald Trump, who is running for the Republican nomination, has been impeached and is hogging political attention; and that a big showdown with congressional Republicans over spending is looming.
Despite lackluster approval ratings, Democratic power brokers have indicated they are all open to Biden’s re-election even before he has officially declared his intention to seek it.
Biden’s comments come as he broke with progressives on some burning issues ahead of the expected launch of his re-election campaign, including crime, immigration policy and the environment. Yet Democrats across the party, from progressives and moderates to rank-and-file leaders and members, have said they plan to stick with Biden going into 2024.
Biden is the oldest US president in history. If he wins re-election, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
The 2024 presidential race loomed over Biden’s State of the Union address in February, even though he had yet to officially announce his re-election campaign. He praised his financial achievements and scolded Republicans while previewing the case he is expected to make for re-election.
In his address to a divided Congress, Biden responded as Republicans booed him from the House floor and stressed that he would not allow Republicans to «take the economy hostage» over the debt ceiling. Biden also criticized «the big lie» of widespread voter fraud that has been promoted by former President Donald Trump.
However, the president also said the two parties may find common ground after Republicans take control of the House, including addressing China-related national security concerns, promoting American manufacturing and regulating powerful companies. technology, he said.