Joe Biden announces 2024 reelection bid: 'Let's finish this job'
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign on Tuesday, ending months of speculation about whether he would seek a second term.
Biden, 80, the oldest man ever to hold the office, announced his 2024 bid in a three-minute video that framed the election as a battle over “personal freedoms.” He appealed for more time to “finish this job” he started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer.” Biden said in a video that featured his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden’s official entry into the race sets up a potential rematch with his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, who declared his candidacy in November and has been leading the pack of declared and potential GOP candidates in recent polls.
WHAT TO KNOW
- President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign on Tuesday, ending months of speculation about whether he would seek a second term.
- Biden, 80, a Democrat, announced his 2024 bid in a three-minute video that framed the election as a battle over “personal freedoms.”
- Biden’s entry into the race sets up a potential rematch with his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, who has been leading the pack of declared and potential GOP candidates in recent polls.
Trump, 76, has continued to galvanize support among his base of Republican voters despite legal challenges such as his recent criminal indictment by a Manhattan grand jury on charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to silence allegations of infidelity before the 2016 election.
Without naming Trump, Biden took aim at what he called “MAGA extremists” — referring to those aligned with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
Hits 'MAGA extremists'
Biden argued so-called MAGA Republicans were “lining up” to eliminate “bedrock freedoms,” citing GOP efforts to ban abortion and Republican proposals to cut Social Security benefits.
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in a statement said: “Republicans are united to beat Biden and Americans are counting down the days until they can send Biden packing.”
Biden’s campaign also faces the backdrop of mounting investigations launched by the GOP-led House. Republican leaders have vowed to investigate the Biden administration’s handling of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and the administration's efforts to reduce the number of illegal border crossings.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville), the top ranking New York House Republican and chairwoman of the House Republican conference, said in a statement Biden’s policies were “disastrous” and that she would “do everything in my power to help” elect Trump.
The potential 2020 rematch between Biden and Trump comes as recent polls show Democrats as concerned about Biden running for reelection given his age. If reelected, Biden would be 82 on Election Day 2024 and would leave office at the age of 86.
Concerns about age
A poll released last week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed less than half of Democrats polled — 47% — were in favor of Biden seeking a second term. Even so, in follow-up questions 81% of Democratic respondents said they would likely support Biden in the general election if he were the nominee.
Biden’s supporters have predicted his record in his first term record would quell concerns about his age. They note he has notched bipartisan successes including passage of a sweeping infrastructure spending package and a bipartisan gun control bill that expanded background check protocols for buyers who are 21 years of age and younger.
Jay Jacobs, New York State and Nassau County Democratic chairman, said voters would judge Biden on his record.
“You have to look at the man and look at how he has performed physically and substantively,” Jacobs said in an interview. “He travels more than any recent president I can remember, meets more people and shakes more hands.”
Democratic campaign strategist Hank Sheinkopf said Biden will need to show his stamina on the campaign trail. He noted Biden will face a more conventional campaign season than in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when he turned to virtual events and drive-in style rallies.
“If he shows he has the stamina, it destroys the age argument,” Sheinkopf said in an interview.
Referendum on 'two incumbents?'
Michael Dawidziak, a Republican campaign strategist who worked on the presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush, said if Trump emerges as the GOP nominee, a rematch with Biden would set up an unprecedented referendum on two incumbents.
“Usually in a presidential campaign when there is an incumbent, it's a referendum on the incumbent,” said Dawidziak, who is based in Bohemia. “Are you happy with this person? Are you happy with their job performance? Are you better off than you were four years ago? That type of thing."
He continued: "But here, you now will have a referendum on two incumbents. That’s not necessarily the best matchup when you have an incumbent with low approval ratings, and another incumbent with even lower approval ratings.”
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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