Bouyed-up Biden declares intent to run again in 2024
President sees ‘good day for democracy’ as public make known support for women’s right to abortion
JOE BIDEN declared it was his “intention to run” in 2024, telling voters who did not want him to seek re-election “watch me”.
The US president, who turns 80 this month, said it would be a family decision. “It’d be early next year we make that judgment,” he said.
Asked what his message was to the two thirds of Americans who polls suggest do not think he should run, Mr Biden said: “Watch me.”
He made the declaration in a near hour-long celebratory press conference from the White House after Republicans failed to make large gains in the battle to control Congress.
Mr Biden called it a “good day” for democracy and said the predicted Republican “giant red wave didn’t happen”.
He said: “We lost fewer seats in the House of Representatives than any president’s first midterm election in the last 40 years.”
Mr Biden credited young Americans in particular for voting “in historic numbers” to safeguard abortion rights.
Democrats flipped a key Senate seat in Pennsylvania and appeared to be fending off GOP challenges in at least two other critical battlegrounds.
Republicans were poised to take the House of Representatives, but the party’s early boasts of a landslide majority failed to materialise.
However, the loss of just one chamber of Congress will still deliver a significant check on Mr Biden’s mandate for the next two years.
The results are a major relief for Mr Biden, who defied historic norms for midterm elections despite persistent inflation, rising crime rates and abysmal approval ratings.
Mr Biden appeared upbeat as he spoke after the elections, and said of his family’s plans for 2024: “I think everybody wants me to run, but we’re gonna have discussions about it.”
He said he did not feel “any hurry” to make the decision “no matter what my predecessor does”.
Donald Trump has teased the prospect of a 2024 announcement next week.
Mr Biden said he would discuss it with his wife, Jill, but added: “Our intention is to run again, that’s been our intention.”
Asked whether he deemed Mr Trump or his Republican rival Ron Desantis a tougher competitor, Mr Biden chuckled and replied: “It’ll be fun watching them take on each other.”
The president’s party avoided crushing defeat in large part with support from young voters and women, who ranked abortion rights high as they cast their votes.
One in every eight voters were under 30 and they backed Democratic candidates by wide margins, according to early exit polling and AP data.
The surge among young voters was particularly evident in Pennsylvania, where Democrat John Fetterman pulled off a stunning victory against Republican Mehmet Oz.
The 53-year-old suffered a major stroke in May which dealt a big blow to his campaign against Oz, the Trumpbacked celebrity television doctor. But Mr Fetterman overcame the odds to defeat Dr Oz, the only Senate seat to be flipped in the contest as of last night.
Some Democrats were sceptical that Mr Fetterman, a 6ft 8in hoodie-clad unabashed progressive, could secure victory in the perennial battleground state. Exit polling suggests young voters were critical to his success.
The Democrat was backed by 72 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds, significantly more than the 59 per cent that backed Mr Biden in the 2020 presidential race, according to CNN’S exit poll.
Likewise, Democrats saw off a strong challenge to their New Hampshire Senate with a surge in support from Gen-z voters. It helped Ms Hassan fend off an anti-abortionist whom fellow Republicans had branded a “conspiracy theory extremist”.
Three critical Senate races, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, were too close to call last night.
This year’s midterm elections also saw the first Gen Z member of Congress elected. Maxwell Frost, aged 25, will represent Florida’s 10th district in the House.