WASHINGTON DC, USA – President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, his intention to run for re-election in 2024, at the record age of 80, “to finish the job.”
Biden faces no real challenger from within the Democratic Party but is expected to face fierce scrutiny over his age in a campaign that may result in a rematch of the 2020 election against Donald Trump.
A recent NBC News poll found that 70% of Americans, including 51% of Democrats, believe he should not run. 69% of all respondents who said he shouldn’t run cited concerns over his age as a major or minor reason.
Despite concerns over his age, Biden plans to focus on his policy wins at home and his marshalling of an unprecedented Western alliance to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
“My dad had an expression,” Biden often says. “‘Joey, don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.”
On Monday, Trump quickly pitched his own criticism of the man who defeated him last time around. “With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection,” he said in a statement.
Later on Tuesday, Biden was scheduled to deliver an economic address to a union conference being held in Washington. While not a campaign event, the scheduled theme — “how his investing in America agenda is bringing manufacturing back, rebuilding the middle class, and creating good-paying union jobs” — was set to be at the heart of the Democrat’s 2024 message.
