When was the last time you liked a sequel of a movie or a book? Chances are most people will say that the follow-up shouldn’t have been created. Now, it seems that America is going to witness a sequel – one that they don’t want. We are talking about Joe Biden vs Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential elections after the former formally announced his reelection bid on Tuesday.

Biden has no serious challenger for the Democratic nomination, and former President Donald Trump is the clear front-runner for a third straight Republican nod. As CNN says, this may make the primary presidential election the most boring to date. The only chance of a shake-up is if Florida governor Ron DeSantis chooses to throw his name into the Republican ring.

We take a closer look at this impending rematch – how the odds are stacked against the two, what the American public feels about it and what it means for America.

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Biden enters the 2024 fray

After a long period of ‘will he, won’t he,’ Joe Biden, 80, finally announced his reelection bid on Tuesday. It didn’t come as much of a surprise, as he’s been hinting at it for weeks.

He released his reelection campaign video, which opened with images of a mob of Trump supporters storming the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The US president said “Around the country, MAGA (Make America Great Again) extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms. Cutting Social Security that you’ve paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.

“When I ran for president four years ago,” he added, “I said we were in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are.”

The three-minute video also had Biden saying, “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for re-election.”

A Biden-Trump showdown

While Biden is pitching his reelection on saving the soul of America, his potential opponent, Donald Trump has already begun his campaign and called Biden the “most corrupt” president in US history. He will probably continue to drum on the claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Additionally, 76-year-old Trump is also likely to go after Biden on the migrant crisis at the southern border and the reported rise in violent crime in Democrat-led cities.

Not just this. Trump is sure to double down on Biden’s handling of classified documents – it doesn’t matter that he too is facing legal action on the same matter. Also, there is the Hunter Biden factor. The US president’s son is being investigated for his tax affairs and business dealings with foreign governments.

Also read: How will Nikki Haley’s 2024 US presidential run pan out for Donald Trump?

There’s also the matter of inflation. Pete Giangreco, a veteran consultant, told NBC News that the rate of inflation – even though it is falling – will be a point that Trump uses to argue that Biden has been a flop on the economy. “There’s just a lot of people who, despite the numbers, have a pretty negative view of the economy,” Giangreco was quoted as saying to NBC News. “Even if the inflation number was cut in half between now and next year, it’s still hard to convince people of any good news.”

And the biggest weapon that Trump will use in his campaign is Biden’s age. At 80, Biden is already the oldest US president in history. This is even though Trump is only four years younger than Biden.

Biden’s age has become a huge talking point with even The New York Times editorial board discussing it. “The president also needs to talk about his health openly and without embarrassment, and to end the pretence that it doesn’t matter,” the newspaper said.

But each times Biden has been asked if he has the energy to run again and be the commander-in-chief of America, he has replied, “Watch me” – explaining that voters should not look at his age, but his record.

However, as MSNBC host Joe Scarborough says there’s one thing working in Biden’s favour. He is the president that appears “normal” up against the alternative. “There’s not the fascism, there’s not the radicalism, there’s not the violent overthrow of governments attempted. Here’s a guy that does his job, works with the Republicans, gets things done,” he was quoted as saying to MSNBC. “That’s something that may not show up in polls a year later, but that’s something that probably will put the Democrats back in the White House for another four years.”

PublicSpeak

But it seems that America is less than enthused about a 2020 rematch. A recent Hart Research poll commissioned by NBC News found significant majorities of Americans would prefer that Trump and Biden both stand down rather than compete for a second term at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The survey revealed that 70 per cent of Americans, including 51 per cent of self-identified Democrats, don’t want Biden to run for another term. It also said that 60 per cent of Americans, including 33 per cent of Republicans, wanted Trump to step aside as well.

When asked why they didn’t want Biden as their next president, 48 per cent said that his age was the ‘major’ reason why they would prefer he step aside for someone else. However, 88 per cent of Democrats said they’d “definitely” or “probably” vote to reelect him if he is the nominee next year, with 83 per cent saying they currently approve of his job performance.

Another survey carried out by Reuters/Ipsos painted a similar picture. About two-thirds of those surveyed didn’t want either Biden or Trump to compete for a second term. For them, Biden’s advancing age, and Trump’s controversial presidency and his string of legal troubles thereafter were the reasons they wouldn’t want both candidates in the White House.

A third survey by Yahoo News and YouGuv found that 38 per cent of Americans feel “exhaustion” over the prospect of a 2024 rematch between Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Faiz Shakir, who managed the 2020 Democratic primary campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, explained to NBC News, “Culturally, society is used to new forms of entertainment. A re-run, understandably to this generation of Americans, is not as exciting.”

But not everyone shares the same view. Brendan Buck, a longtime Republican strategist, predicted that the sequel the 2020 election would draw plenty of intense interest, largely because of Trump’s ability to focus media attention on himself. “In a normal world you might expect this to drag down enthusiasm, but Trump will take care of that,” Buck told NBC News. “If this is the matchup we end up with, it won’t be a boring election, and it won’t lack for turnout.”

And if, in fact, it is Trump vs Biden in 2024, American voters are sure to feel a sense of déjà vu – from candidates to campaigns.

As The Star wrote, the year 2024 will be two men chanting the same old slogans and expecting different results.

With inputs from agencies

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