At Nantucket retreat, Biden family eyes ’24
President Joe Biden and his family are tackling a weighty question during their Thanksgiving holiday retreat to the chilly quiet of Nantucket: whether he’ll seek a second term in 2024.
A final decision won’t be made on the Massachusetts island, where the Bidens are staying at a home owned by Carlyle Group co-founder and Bloomberg contributor David Rubenstein while enjoying beach walks, local restaurants and shopping. But the president and his closest relatives will discuss a potential re-election bid there and during the Christmas holidays, current and former aides say.
The president and first lady Jill Biden arrived Tuesday at Nantucket, where they have regularly spent Thanksgiving dating back to before Biden was vice president. A few close family accompanied them, including Biden’s daughter Ashley and his son Hunter, who is expected to be a target of House Republican investigations in the next two years.
Biden has the wind at his back, after his Democratic Party enjoyed a historically successful midterm election. His aides widely expect him to run again, and his team is moving forward as if a final announcement is a formality. But the president has said his family will have an outsized say in the decision, which isn’t expected until next year.
“If his heart is in it, they are there for him. It is highly unlikely they will not support him,” said Michael LaRosa, a former aide to Jill Biden. “He’s running. And I don’t know who else but him should be running. He’s proven himself to be not just an
effective campaigner, but an effective executive.”
Biden downplayed the stakes of the trip, ignoring shouted
questions about 2024 on Friday and when asked again on Saturday how the discussions were going.
“We’re not having any, we’re celebrating,” he said to reporters as he, Jill Biden and family shopped on Nantucket’s Main Street.
Even so, Biden has repeatedly said he intends to run and has cited only his family or a surprise development, such as a health crisis, as deterrents. The holiday getaway gives him the chance to weigh that decision outside of Washington.
“My intention is that I run again. But I’m a great respecter of fate. And this is, ultimately, a family decision,” Biden said this month, adding a decision could come “early next year.”
The Bidens are a fixture on Nantucket.
But even among a friendly audience, Biden’s age is an issue. The president turned 80 on Nov. 20, making him the first octogenarian to occupy the White House.