Biden’s reelection campaign for 2024 crystalizes
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President Joe Biden has officially launched his campaign for a second term, according to The Associated Press.
Biden released his campaign launch video Tuesday morning. April 25 is the same date he announced his presidential run in 2019, per CBS News. This time around, he’ll have to run both the country and his campaign.
His team’s work for 2024 began well before Tuesday’s formal launch, with efforts led by Jen O’Malley Dillon, his deputy chief of staff, and senior adviser Anita Dunn at the White House, per CNN.
The report added that Biden has signed off on Wilmington, Delaware, as the campaign headquarters.
As for his reelection campaign manager, his administration is reportedly eyeing Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who currently serves as a senior adviser to the president as well as the director for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House.
Michael Tyler, who recently worked as chief of staff for the Democratic National Committee, might be tapped for the role of the 2024 campaign’s communications director.
Biden is also set to host a big donor event on Friday, April 28, as The New York Times reported.
The White House hadn’t commented on rumors that the campaign video was coming Tuesday ahead of its release, but Biden reaffirmed his intentions for 2024 at an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Monday. When pressed by reporters, he said, “I told you I am planning on running but you’ll know real soon when.”
Earlier this month, when Biden was in Ireland, he told reporters that the announcement should come “relatively soon.” Adding, “I told you my plan is to run again.”
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Biden will face author Marianne Williamson and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the primaries. Both of them are trailing the president in the polls.
But, as Williamson said on Twitter, the Democratic National Committee isn’t even planning on holding primary debates.
Incumbents are known to take their time before declaring another run for office, since they rarely face a tough challenge in their party for the nomination, with the exception of former President Donald Trump, who launched his bid for 2024 in November last year.
“The single best thing Joe Biden can do for his reelection is to continue to be president of United States, and, when he’s out there barnstorming the country, talking about what he’s delivered and what he wants to do,” Eric Schultz, a Democratic operative and spokesman for former President Barack Obama, told The Associated Press. “That’s exactly what he’s been doing.”
The DNC “plans no primary debates.”
As though there simply ARE no other candidates … no other ideas we should discuss about ways to win in 2024, or other ideas we should discuss about ways to repair the country.
Too many people are too smart to accept this.— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) April 24, 2023
So, what’s the rush in announcing the reelection campaign? Some hopeful candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aren’t expected to launch their bid for months.
But for Biden, there are two upsides, as Politico noted. First, the president will erase any doubts about whether or not he is running. Second, it will give Biden time to fundraise for the presidential race.
An NBC News poll from Sunday found that 70% of Americans, which includes 51% of Democrats, said they don’t think Biden should run for reelection.
Biden is 80 years old and already the oldest elected president in U.S. history. The White House has brushed aside concerns over his health.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, said in February that Biden is “a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency, to include those as Chief Executive, Head of State and Commander in Chief,” according to Politico.
Even if Biden doesn’t face much resistance from elected Democrats, Republicans are already building momentum against Biden ahead of the general election matchup with Trump, the leading GOP nominee.
The Republican National Committee said on Monday that it plans on creating Biden’s “new least favorite website” that fact-checks the president in real time.
“Not only has Biden created crisis after crisis, he lies about the damage that he’s done to our country,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News.
“Whether it’s claiming that the border is secure, that our economy is strong, or that the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan was a success, Biden and his administration refuse to acknowledge the truth,” she said.
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