Biden Officially Announces He's Seeking Reelection

By Ophelia Garrett

In Brief:

President Biden has officially announced that he will be running for reelection in 2024. And not only that, but he is keeping Kamala Harris on the ticket as his Vice President — despite worsening ratings and an onslaught of mockery for their disaster of a first term.

The Background: 

86. That is how old Biden will be when his second term ends should he be reelected. While already the oldest sitting president in US history, his age is causing major concern, and not just from his conservative opponents. 

A NBC News poll released days before his announcement showed that 70% of Americans did not want the president to stand for re-election, while only 60% said the same of former President Donald Trump. 

More damning for Biden, the same poll showed that if he is the Democrats’ 2024 standard-bearer, only 21% of Americans would definitely vote for him — while 39% said they would definitely vote for the Republican candidate. Including leaners, Biden trailed the GOP nominee 47% to 41% in the popular vote. 

In February, an AP-NORC poll showed that merely 12% of Democrats believe Biden should be the party’s leader, though respondents were split over who exactly should take his place. In the same month, 59% of Democrats polled by Reuters/Ipsos agreed the phrase “Joe Biden is too old to work in government” best described the president, the New York Post reported. 

Of course, Biden’s announcement was much less about what he has accomplished and more about fear-mongering should Trump gain reelection. 

“Freedom, personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred. That’s been the work of my first term — to fight for democracy. To protect our rights,” Biden stated as he started his announcement.  

“But you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away,” he added. Then, he proceeded to rattle off a list of supposed GOP positions including “cutting Social Security,” rolling back women’s right to abortions and “banning books and telling people who they can love.”

He finished off with one last jab - claiming that Republicans have gone out of their way to make life difficult, cutting rights, etc   

“All while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote,” Biden said. 

Notable Quotes: 

“You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and put them together, and they would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our Nation in just a few short years. Not even close.” – Donald Trump