President Biden announces re-election bid, challenging Trump and history

Joe Biden formally announced Tuesday that he will run for re-election in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish this job” and extend the term of America’s longest-serving president.

Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting that his first-term legislative achievements and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will outweigh concerns about his age. He faces a smooth path to win his party’s nomination, with no serious Democratic challengers.

Joe Biden, in his video announcement: “I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are. The question we face is whether in the coming years we will have more or less freedom. More rights or less.”

Biden, in a pre-recorded video, said that American democracy still faces a deep threat from former President Donald Trump, who is 76, and more extreme Republicans, raising the possibility of a rematch next year, if Trump were to win. the Republican primaries.

Trump has already launched his criticism of President Biden: “You could take the five worst presidents in the history of the United States and put them together, and they would not have done the damage that Joe Biden has done to our nation in just a few years. Not even close.”

Most US presidents have sought re-election. Biden enjoys only about 40% approval, while a notable swath of voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, due to his age.

Professor William Howell of the University of Chicago talks about concerns about the president’s age: “Justifiable concerns, in my opinion, about his ability to meet all the duties of office, concerns about his health, his ability to finish a second term and what that means for whom, for the possibility of a female president Kamala Harris taking her place […] One more point on this, though: The front-runner for the Republican side isn’t a youngster, either. If he ends up winning Trump, he’ll have 78.”

During a routine physical in February, his doctor declared him “healthy, vigorous” and “fit” to handle his White House responsibilities. And within the Democratic party, despite some preferring an alternative to Biden, the general consensus is to support the president.

Biden described himself as “a bridge” to the next generation during his 2020 campaign, a comment some took as a hint that he would only serve one term. With this announcement, now, Biden has shown that he is, in fact, not ready to hand over the torch yet. According to his advisers, the decision is due to the new candidacy of Donald Trump and his belief that he is the Democrat best positioned to prevent the Republican from regaining the presidency.