‘That is my expectation’
Prez says he’ll seek second term
President Biden said he expects to run for re-election in 2024, but cautioned that he’ll see what “fate” has in store.
“My plan is to run for re-election, that is my expectation,” Biden said Thursday in his first solo news conference as president.
Pressed minutes later by another reporter, Biden reiterated that it’s his “expectation” he’ll run again but that he’s “a great respecter of fate. I’ve never been able to plan 4K — 3K — years ahead for certain.”
Should he run again, Biden said he would “fully expect” Vice President Kamala Harris to again join him on the ticket, calling her a “great partner.”
Biden, 78, was the oldest president to be sworn into office when he took the oath in January. He
would be 82 in 2024, and would be 83 by the time he would begin his second term in 2025.
Speculation has long swirled over whether Biden would run for a second term given his age. Biden said on the campaign trail last year that he saw himself as a “bridge” to a younger generation of Democrats.
When the question was raised Thursday, a reporter noted former President Donald Trump had already launched his reelection machine at this point in his presidency.
“My predecessor needed to,” Biden laughed in response. “My predecessor, oh God, I miss him.”
Trump has repeatedly teased a 2024 bid. The ex-president remains popular with Republicans and has bucked the notion of forming a third party in favor of backing challengers who align with his agenda.
But Biden, when asked whether he thought he’d be running against Trump for president once again, said, “I have no idea. I have no idea whether there will be a Republican Party, do you?”
Biden blasted Republican-led legislative efforts that would restrict access to voting, calling the push “un-American” and “sick.”
“This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle,” he said. “This is gigantic, what they’re trying to do. And it cannot be sustained.”
There was scant mention of the coronavirus that’s killed 546,000 Americans and infected 30 million during Biden’s first formal news conference.
The president set a new goal of administering 200 million vaccines by the end of his first 100 days in office after surpassing his initial goal of 100 million doses, touted his $1.9 trillion economic relief package and pledged to keep reopening schools at the top of the hour of questioning, but the deadly virus was not brought up again.
Instead, Biden was put in the hot seat over the southwest border migrant influx. He left the door open for changes to the filibuster if needed to pass his legislative agenda through chambers where Democrats hold slim majorities.
Asked about gun control after two mass shootings, Biden said legislating is “a matter of timing” and said infrastructure would be his next priority.