Speaking to David Muir from ABC News on Wednesday, United States (US) President Joe Biden expressed his intention to run in the 2024 presidential elections if he is still in good health at the time.
During the interview, Muir asked Biden, “You said you would absolutely serve eight years if elected. Do you plan to run for re-election?” To this, Biden replied: “Yes...If I’m in the health I’m in now, if I’m in good health, then, in fact, I would run again.” Muir followed up by asking how Biden would react to a potential ‘re-match’ with former President Donald Trump, to which Biden responded, “You’re trying to tempt me now.” He added, “Sure, why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That’d increase the prospect of running.”
Biden took office earlier this year at the age of 78, making him the oldest-ever US president to be sworn in. Many have questioned whether Biden can run for a second term since he will be 82 on the next election day. However, Biden and the White House have seemingly assured of plans for a second term. Last week, in an interview, Vice President Kamala Harris said that the duo had “absolutely not” talked about the 2024 election run, noting that their first year in office was in the midst of a pandemic. However, in November, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Biden will seek a second term, saying “that is his intention.”
Biden’s re-election remarks coincide with a historically low approval rating according to new poll data released last week, prompted by the recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, record-high inflation, and the president’s failure to pass his flagship $2.2 trillion spending bill—the Build Back Better Act. The NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found Biden’s approval rating at 40%, with 55% of citizens unhappy with his job as president.
With the mid-term elections next year, the Republican party will seek to take advantage of Biden’s failure to secure momentum ahead of the 2024 election. On Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he would “absolutely” run for president in 2024, pointing out that Republican voters had placed him second in the 2016 primaries. Trump, 75, has also indicated his intention of running again, saying many people would “be upset” if he decided not to run. During a Fox Business interview earlier this month, Trump boasted, “Look, I have a 94, 95% even, in the CPAC, I had a 98% approval rating. So, if I decide to run, I’ll get it very easily.”
Trump’s comments come in light of his several failed attempts to overturn the 2020 elections he lost, despite lack of evidence of voter fraud. Moreover, many of Trump’s aides have been indicted over the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol building by right-wing extremists.