US President Joe Biden. AFP
US President Joe Biden. AFP
US President Joe Biden finally broke his silence over a possible presidential rerun. He announced on Friday that he has decided to participate in the presidential race in 2024 and will announce his re-election campaign “very soon.”
“We’ll announce it relatively soon. But the trip here just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done,” Biden told reporters during his trip to Ireland. He added, “I told you my plan is to run again.”
The 80-year-old Democrat has always intended to run for re-election but the lack of a formal announcement made his supporters sceptical if he would really commit to another four-year term.
Yet behind the scenes, close aides and allies have already begun putting the steps in place to stand up a campaign infrastructure and fundraising apparatus ahead of a 2024 bid that could be a re-run of the 2020 match-up with Republican ex-president Donald Trump, who has already launched his campaign.
Biden’s expected pitch is to “finish the job” after a first term that included several legislative wins, including billions of dollars in federal funds to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and for new infrastructure.
However, Biden’s age has made many dubious about his re-election bid. Although, his physician Kevin O’Connor has cleared him medically.
“The President remains fit for duty, and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations,” the doctor said in February.
In a letter, O’Connor said that Biden also underwent an “extremely detailed” neurological exam, the results of which did not find any brain disorders or motor weakness.
Apart from health concerns, Biden’s approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low, with 52 per cent of Americans disapproving of him, according to a poll by Reuters.
With inputs from agencies
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