‘If I’m in good health’

Joe’s ’24 proviso

President Biden said Wednesday he would run for re-election if he’s healthy enough to do so, and he believes “fate” would bring him a second term.

Biden, 79, made the caveat in an interview with ABC News Wednesday, telling “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir he would welcome a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

“If I’m in the health I’m in now

— I’m in good health — then, in fact, I would run again,” Biden said.

“I’m a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times.”

Bring on Trump

Biden also said a possible rematch against Trump would make him more likely to run.

“You’re trying to tempt me now. Sure. Why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running,” Biden said.

Like Biden, Trump, 75, would be in his 80s in the White House if he won.

Biden also said the US response to the Omicron variant surge was not a “failure,” but regretted not ordering millions of free rapid tests for Americans “two months ago.”

Muir grilled him on the lack of availability of tests in the days before Christmas, a year into his presidency and two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nothing’s been good enough,” Biden conceded. “But look, look where we are. When last Christmas, we were in a situation where we had significantly fewer vaccinated, people vaccinated, emergency rooms were filled. You had serious backups in hospitals that were causing great difficulties.”

Biden, who announced plans Tuesday to purchase 500 million at-home tests and distribute them for free next month, said the administration should have been better prepared to combat the highly transmissible variant, the long lines at testing centers and empty pharmacy shelves.

“I wish I had thought about ordering” the tests “two months ago,” he told Muir.

But “I don’t think it’s a failure,” Biden said. “I think it’s — you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago.”

200M fully vaxed

The president touted crossing the benchmark of 200 million fully vaccinated Americans, and said inoculations and booster shots remained the best defense against Omicron. Nevertheless, he said he would not require airline passengers to get vaxed as millions hit the airport for Christmas.

“It’s been considered, but the recommendation I’ve gotten, it’s not necessary,” Biden said. “Even with Omicron, that’s the recommendation I got so far from the team.”