Biden says he’d be ‘fortunate’ to run against Trump in 2024

During a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, President Biden responded to a question about whether steps are being taken in the alliance that can't be undone in the event former President Donald Trump, or someone like him, is elected president in 2024. Biden said no, but added, “I’d be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me.”

Video Transcript

- Thanks Mr. President. Um, there is a presidential election coming up in 2024 and--

JOE BIDEN: You're kidding?

- Yes, that's true. And, uh, there are widespread concerns in Europe that, um, a figure like your predecessor, maybe even your predecessor himself, might, uh, get elected president again. Um, so, um, are there any steps-- anything, uh, you are trying to do and NATO is trying to do here these days to prevent what you are trying to do becoming undone two years from now? Thank you.

JOE BIDEN: No, I-- that's not how I think of this. I've been dealing with foreign policy for longer than anybody that's involved in this process right now. I have no concerns about the impact.

I-- I made a commitment when I ran this time. I wasn't going to run again. And I mean that sincerely. I had no intention of running for president again and-- uh, until I saw those folks coming out of the fields in Virginia carrying torches and carrying Nazi banners and literally singing the same vile rhyme that they used in Germany in the early '20s-- or '30s, I should say.

And, um, and then when the gentleman you mentioned was asked what he thought-- and a young woman was killed, a protester. And, uh, he asked-- was asked what he thought-- uh, he said they're very good people on both sides. And that's when I decided I wasn't going to be quiet any longer.

And when I ran this time-- and I think the American press, whether they look at me favorably or unfavorably, acknowledges-- I made the determination-- nothing is worth-- no election is worth my not doing exactly what I think is the right thing, not a joke. I'm too long in the tooth to fool with this any longer. And so, we're a long way off in elections, a long way off.

My focus of any election is on making sure that we retain the House in the United States Senate, so that I have the room to continue to do the things that I've been able to do, in terms of grow the economy and deal in a rational way with American foreign policy and lead the world. Lead-- be the leader of the free world. So, uh, um-- but it's not-- it's not a logical question for someone to ask.

I say to people at home, imagine if we sat and watched the, uh, the doors of the Bundestag broken down and police officers killed and hundreds of people storming in. Or imagine if we saw that happening in the British Parliament, or whatever. How would we feel?

And, uh, one of the things that I take some solace from is-- I don't think you'll find any European leader who, uh, thinks that, uh, I am not up to the job. Um, and I mean that sincerely. It's not like whoa-- it's that-- that the point is that when the first G7 meeting I attended, like the one I did today, was in Great Britain-- and I sat down, and I said, America's back." And one of the-- of my counterparts, colleague who's head of state, said, "For how long?" For how long?

And so I don't blame-- I don't-- I don't criticize anybody for asking that question, but, uh, the next election I'd be very fortunate if I had that same man running against me. Thank you very, very much.