Biden likely to run for second term

Gustaf Kilander
·2 min read
President Joe Biden speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House upon returning from Ohio early this week (EPA)
President Joe Biden speaks to the press on the South Lawn of the White House upon returning from Ohio early this week (EPA)
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President Joe Biden looks likely to run for two terms, despite campaigning on being a "transitional" president, wresting power away from Donald Trump and then handing the reins over to younger generations.

On the campaign trail in March 2020, Mr Biden said: “Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”

That bridge now looks to be eight years long instead of four.

According to The Hill, one longtime Biden adviser said: “I don’t think there’s any reason to say that he won’t,” run for another term in the White House.

Another associate of the president said that Mr Biden has never said anything about only serving only one term.

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“So we all assume that he is [running again],” the associate said and added, “contrary to this sentiment that he’ll be a one-term president because of his own volition".

Mr Biden’s sister and political advisor since his first campaign for office, Valerie Biden Owens, told Axios in November that he would “absolutely” run again.

She said: “He’s transitional in that he’s bringing in all these young people and bringing [us] back again [so] we’re not a divided country... But sure. He’s going strong.”

Mr Biden is 78 years old and the oldest president in American history.

Donald Trump was the oldest president to enter the office before Mr Biden at 70 years old in 2017. Ronald Reagan left the office after two terms shortly before his 78th birthday in January 1989.

Mr Biden's age and ability to handle the duties of the job will doubtless be even more of an issue during a reelection campaign than it was during his 2020 run. Republicans and right-wing media are already pushing the idea that Mr Biden's cognitive abilities aren't up to scratch and the White House is being run by his staff and not the president.

The obvious heir to Mr Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, is in a "difficult position" according to one advisor who told The Hill: “She is in the difficult position of wanting to run for president obviously but being a bit boxed out because of the whole question of whether or not Biden will run again. That could cause some friction down the line.”

The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.