Biden says he won’t be a 'lame duck' president, doesn't commit to quickly filing for re-election

Tim O'Donnell

President-elect Joe Biden was asked Tuesday if he would consider filing for re-election shortly after he's sworn in as commander-in-chief next month to signal he won't be a "lame duck" president.

The question elicited a chuckle from Biden before he assured the press he won't be a lame duck. "Just watch me," he said. He did not, however, commit to filing for re-election next year.

There's been speculation that the 78-year-old Biden views himself as a transitional president and is only planning to serve one term in office, though opting against filing next year wouldn't necessarily be a clear indicator one way or another. President Trump, who frequently eschewed Oval Office norms during his term in the White House, did officially launch his re-election bid on Inauguration Day in 2017, but that was unusually early. His successors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, for instance, didn't confirm their bids for a second term with the Federal Election Commission until the year before the election.

More stories from theweek.com
Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame
Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire
Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?

Latest Stories

  • Texas attorney general asked Trump administration to revoke COVID relief funds for Harris County

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Trump administration in the spring to revoke millions of dollars in COVID relief for Harris County, which includes Houston, because the funds were earmarked to expand mail-in voting in the 2020 election.

  • How Biden will deal with the Pentagon's generals

    During his 34-year tenure on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he twice chaired, Biden took a keen interest in military issues, frequently visiting U.S. forces deployed overseas.

  • Federal prosecutors have discussed making a legal request for Giuliani’s electronic communications

    A US media report says the investigation against Mr Giuliani is ongoing and ‘very active’

  • Pakistan warns India against 'false flag' attacks in Kashmir

    Pakistan's military was on high alert in Kashmir on Monday as its prime minister warned India against carrying out any “false flag” operations in the disputed region after a U.N. vehicle in the Pakistan-held part came under attack. Pakistan blamed Friday's attack on India, implying it was aimed at embarrassing Islamabad and harming relations with the international community. India has denied the allegations.

  • Mexico says to receive first vaccines from Pfizer on Wednesday

    MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -The first COVID-19 vaccine doses from U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc will arrive in Mexico on Wednesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday, paving the way for their application in the country. "This first shipment to Mexico has already been picked up at Pfizer's plant in Belgium, it arrives tomorrow," Ebrard told reporters at a regular news conference. "We think it will be touching down in Mexico before noon."

  • Former FDA chief thinks new mutation of COVID-19 found in the U.K. is 'already in the U.S.'

    Former FDA head Dr. Scott Gottlieb believes the new variant of the coronavirus found in the United Kingdom is "already in the U.S." and a travel ban won't do anything to keep it from spreading in the country.The mutation is thought to be up to 70 percent more transmissible, and because of it, more than 40 countries have banned travel to and from the U.K. for at least 48 hours. The former Food and Drug Administration commissioner told CNBC's Shepard Smith on Monday that at this point, he does not believe a travel ban "is going to prevent this mutated strain from coming into the United States. We're going to have an epidemic that continues to build over the course of the next three or four weeks, we'll reach a peak, and then we'll start to see infection rates decline as we see vaccinations get rolled out."So far, there is no sign this is a deadlier strain, and Gottlieb told Smith "the question is, is this virus going to change the surface proteins in a way that can obviate either the vaccines or prior immunity, and there's no indication that it's doing that right now." However, Gottlieb cautioned that "over time, it will evolve in ways where it can probably obviate prior infection or vaccines to some degree, so we'll probably need to adapt our vaccines over time."As the virus continues to make its way around the world, Gottlieb said "we're going to start to see more of these variants, and that's why it's important to get the population vaccinated and snuff out these infections. The more infections you have, the more chances that these variants start to propagate."More stories from theweek.com Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?

  • China expels US ship from disputed waters in fresh escalation in South China Sea

    China on Tuesday claimed its military had “expelled” a US Navy destroyer after it “trespassed” into Chinese territorial waters close to the Spratly Islands, in a fresh escalation of tensions between Washington and Beijing over the South China Sea. The statement by Senior Colonel Tian Junli, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Southern Command, came shortly after the US Navy announced the USS John S McCain had asserted its “navigational rights and freedoms” in the disputed seas near the islands, “consistent with international law.” The incident occurred as Shandong, China’s second aircraft carrier, was reported to be conducting drills in the region after sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Sunday. The Chinese government claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, directly disputing the territorial claims of reefs, islands and waters by its smaller regional neighbours. The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan have all laid claims to the Spratlys. This year, Beijing has been demonstrating its assertiveness over the energy-rich waters, prompting the US to denounce its “bullying behaviour” there and step up its own freedom of navigation operations.

  • Trump promised mass vaccination by spring. To make it happen, Biden could use wartime law.

    President Donald Trump has already used the wartime production law to speed testing and production of medical equipment.

  • US companies no longer have to pay sick leave to people with Covid after Mitch McConnell reportedly blocks extension

    ‘This crisis has made it clearer than ever why paid leave for every worker is so important to families,’ says senator Patty Murray

  • A white supremacist who has advocated for legalizing child porn was arrested and charged with kidnapping a 12-year-old girl he met online

    Nathan Larson, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2018, has called Hitler a 'white supremacist hero' and admitted that he was a pedophile.

  • 5 surprising things tucked into Congress' nearly 6,000-page spending bill

    The most significant aspect of Congress' omnibus spending bill is the $900 coronavirus relief package embedded within it, but there are a few surprising add-ons -- as there usually are in such legislation -- tucked into the nearly 6,000-paged text.One item that snuck in there was the proposed creation of two new Smithsonian museums, one focused on women's history, and the other for the proposed "National Museum of the American Latino." Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) had previously blocked standalone bills that would have funded them.> Tucked into the stimulus bill: two new Smithsonian museums pic.twitter.com/vVwVkcXZIR> > -- Aman Batheja (@amanbatheja) December 21, 2020The package also contains proposed legislation that would change how drugs are regulated in horseracing, a murder hornet eradication program, and a continued ban on federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, an organization that hasn't existed for years. That language has apparently appeared quite frequently in bills over the last few years, and some Republican lawmakers reportedly think it may just keep getting copy-and-pasted by aides.The sovereignty of Tibet, Taiwan, and Hong Kong also received frequent mentions, which, in other words, means the bill includes language hinting at opposition to potential Chinese encroachment on those places. One item that's been garnering a lot of attention concerns the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Several observers pointed out that while that may seem unnecessary or even silly at first glance, especially because it seems out of place in a bill primarily focused on pandemic relief, it actually addresses a significant geopolitical issue. > This is what the Dalai Lama thing is about. https://t.co/4OeRl3VzhR> > -- Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 21, 2020> We can argue whether this language belongs in this bill, but it's not just that Congress decided to regulate reincarnation on top of everything else.> > -- Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) December 21, 2020More stories from theweek.com Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?

  • Israel heads to new elections as government collapses

    Israel’s divided government collapsed early Wednesday, triggering the country’s fourth election in under two years and bringing an unprecedented threat to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lengthy grip on power. Netanyahu, who is used to labeling his opponents as weak leftists, finds himself confronted by a trio of disgruntled former aides who share his hard-line ideology, led by a popular lawmaker who recently broke away from the prime minister's Likud party. Whether Netanyahu can fend off these challengers or not, the country is almost certain to be led by a right-wing politician opposed to concessions to the Palestinians, complicating hopes of the incoming Biden administration to restart peace talks.

  • Federal prosecutor overseeing Giuliani and Bannon investigations to stay on

    Audrey Strauss has been acting U.S. attorney since June, when Barr asked her boss to leave, but her term had been set to end before the Biden admin begins.

  • Malaysia buys AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, seeks more from China, Russia

    KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Malaysia has signed a deal to procure 6.4 million doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine, and is in final talks with Chinese and Russian manufacturers to secure more, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday. The Southeast Asian country has already secured 12.8 million doses from its deal with Pfizer-BioNTech signed last month, as well as from its participation in the global COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization (WHO). "This means that we have secured vaccine supplies to cover 40% (of the population)," Muhyiddin said in a televised address.

  • France 'could have helped UK tackle new Covid strain if not for Brexit'

    The French government could have "helped" Britain tackle the infectious new strain of coronavirus if not for Brexit, France's EU commissioner said as the country demanded tests for lorry drivers to lift its freight ban. Asked about the new outbreak, Thierry Breton said: "It's a tragedy what's happening in Britain, and this Brexit is a tragedy – we see it more and more every day." If Britain "had chosen to remain in the European Union... today we could have helped them," Mr Breton told BFM Business. His comments are likely to fuel anger in Britain after France banned freight and flights until at least midnight on Tuesday, a move Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, described as surprising. Natalie Elphicke, the Tory MP for Dover, said: "The French Government's decision to close the border at no notice was unnecessary, unhelpful and irresponsible. It has caused serious traffic congestion at a time when traffic flows were already high, with Christmas and over-stocking causing congestion at a number of ports ahead of the end of the transition period. "The longer that this goes on, the longer it will take to unwind, meaning that there could be queues past Christmas unless the French reopen the border soon."

  • S. Korea scrambles jets after Chinese and Russian intrusion into air defense zone

    South Korea said on Tuesday it had scrambled fighter jets in response to an intrusion into South Korea's air defense identification zone by 19 Russian and Chinese military aircraft.

  • 11 Luxurious Bedding Options to Start the New Year Right

    Slip into something a little more comfortableOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Trump administration officials subpoenaed in probe into alleged 'extensive and dangerous' political interference at CDC

    Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield have both been subpoenaed by a House subcommittee probing allegations of political interference at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Monday subpoenaed Azar and Redfield for previously-requested documents, which committee chair Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said was "necessary because the Select Subcommittee's investigation has revealed that efforts to interfere with scientific work at CDC were far more extensive and dangerous than previously known," The Wall Street Journal reports.Earlier this month, Clyburn said that a CDC official, Dr. Charlotte Kent, alleged to investigators that Redfield ordered the deletion of an email showing a Trump administration appointee was trying to interfere with a scientific report amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Axios reports. And on Monday, Clyburn said that the subcommittee has obtained documents showing "Trump administration appointees attempted to alter or block at least 13 scientific reports related to" COVID-19 over a "period of four months."A spokesperson for HHS previously objected to the "subcommittee's characterization of the conversation with Dr. Kent," calling it "irresponsible," per the Journal. Clyburn said the subpoena requires Redfield and Azar to produce the requested documents by Dec. 30.More stories from theweek.com Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?

  • Stimulus checks: Mnuchin announces when Americans will get second payment

    $600 direct payments could be issued as soon as next week, Treasury Secretary says

  • Report: Federal prosecutors have discussed obtaining Rudy Giuliani's emails

    Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have been discussing with Justice Department officials in Washington whether to make a legal request for Rudy Giuliani's emails, two people with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is President Trump's personal lawyer. Under Justice Department policy, prosecutors must get approval from Washington before asking a judge to sign a search warrant for items that might be protected by attorney-client privilege; NBC News notes that it is not known if the approval was granted.In October 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that SDNY prosecutors were investigating Giuliani and his business dealings in Ukraine, and as part of the probe, they examined Giuliani's bank records. That same month, two of Giuliani's associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested and charged with campaign finance fraud. Parnas and Fruman both helped Giuliani try to dig up dirt in Ukraine about President-elect Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.The Washington Post reported in February that prosecutors had started talking with witnesses in an attempt to gather more documents for the investigation, and two people familiar with the matter stressed to NBC News that the probe is ongoing, with one saying it is "very active."Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello, told NBC News he has "no reason to believe there's any truth to the allegations that there is renewed interest in my client." Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Trump has talked with advisers about granting Giuliani a preemptive pardon.More stories from theweek.com Trump's eye-for-an-eye endgame Televangelist Pat Robertson says Biden won, won't be president long, urges 'erratic' Trump to retire Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?