President Biden ‘Pretty Much’ Ready to Announce Reelection Bid, Jill Biden Says
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First lady Jill Biden indicated on Friday that President Biden will run for reelection in 2024, saying he’s “not done.”
The first lady told the Associated Press there is “pretty much” nothing left to do but set a time and place for the formal announcement.
“How many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?” Biden told the outlet during an interview in Nairobi at the conclusion of her five-day trip to Africa.
“He says he’s not done,” she said. “He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”
The president is expected to announce his reelection bid in April, according to the report.
Asked whether she has the deciding vote on whether Biden runs again, the first lady said: “Of course he’ll listen to me, because we’re a married couple.” She later added, “he makes up his own mind, believe me.”
Recent polling shows mixed attitudes among Democratic voters toward another Biden term. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll earlier this month found that just 37 percent of Democrats want Biden to run again. However, an NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll conducted last week posed far better news for Biden: 50 percent said the party has the best chance at winning the presidency in 2024 with Biden as the nominee, while 45 percent think the best chance lies with another candidate.
Biden, at 80 years old, is the oldest person to serve as president. If he were to win reelection, he would be 86 at the end of his second term.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has attacked Biden over his age, saying “America is not past our prime, it’s just that our politicians are past theirs.” She has suggested politicians over the age of 75 should be required to pass a mental-competency test.
White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told The Hill last week that Republicans have failed in their attempts to play the age card.
“I’m not sure what they think they’re accomplishing,” Bates said. “The trend is not good for them.”
Several Democrats have defended attacks against Biden’s age, including Senator Chris Coons (D., Del.), a longtime Biden ally who told National Review recently: “I don’t think [President Biden] needs to respond to that argument. I think his strong record of leadership over the last two years [and] his forceful, agile, very capable State of the Union speech more than answers that question or concern.”
Senator Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) similarly said Biden’s State of the Union was a strong argument that Biden is not too old to serve a second term. Senator Elizabeth Warren said that rather than age, the question is “who’s got the ideas and who’s got the fight in them to make it happen.”
