End of suspense. Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he would seek a second term in office in 2024, dismissing concerns over his age. “I’m running for re-election,” the 80-year-old US president said in a video message posted on Twitter.
“Let’s get the job done,” Joe Biden said emphasizing the fight he says is still ongoing for freedom and democracy.
Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly
Tuesday’s date is far from trivial. It marks the fourth anniversary to the day of Joe Biden’s last campaigning, when the Democrat embarked on a battle for the “soul of America” ??and deprived Donald Trump of a second mandate. If the polls are confirmed, a “remake” of the duel between the two men is emerging.
After his announcement, the Republican Party accused US President Joe Biden of being “out of touch”. “Biden is so out of touch with reality that he thinks he deserves four more years in office when all he does is create crises,” party leader Ronna McDaniel said.
The president is due to speak on Tuesday on what will likely be one of his leitmotifs as a candidate: how to bring “manufacturing jobs” back to the United States and “rebuild the middle class.”
Since the beginning of the year, Joe Biden has been hammering his will to restore his “dignity” to the “forgotten” popular America, disturbed by globalization, which Donald Trump has been able to seduce in part.
The tenant of the White House may think he has the statistics with him: American presidents usually run again, and they most often get re-elected. But Joe Biden, by his age, defies historical precedent. If re-elected, he would complete his second term at the age of 86.
In November 2021 and again in February 2023, the leader underwent health checks which concluded that he was in “good health”. But he, who is already gaffe-prone and whose appearance is unmistakably marked by years, exposes himself to an upsurge in Republican attacks on his mental acuity.
Joe Biden, however, displays unusual endurance, juggling between international crises and major reforms.
His trip to Kiev, an unprecedented initiative for the Head of State surrounded by the strictest security arrangements in the world, was a spectacular reminder of his role as the architect of the Western response after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
He also noted that, according to the polls, the candidacy of his predecessor Donald Trump, 76 years old and indicted by a court in New York, is no more enthusiastic than his.
The Democrat therefore believes that if he once beat his Republican predecessor, a divisive figure par excellence, he can do it again by highlighting his good-natured personality and his unifying program.
Anticipating an announcement from his rival, Donald Trump lambasted the current president’s record on Monday. “You could take the five worst presidents in American history, and together they wouldn’t have done as much damage as Joe Biden did to our country in just a few years,” the Republican billionaire said in a statement. .
One big unknown remains: what would Joe Biden’s chances be if he faced a younger opponent in November 2024?
The name of 44-year-old hard-right rising star of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been circulating widely. But he has not yet declared himself.
Less well known, Republican Nikki Haley, already campaigning, calls for the emergence of a “new generation”. In particular, it calls for intellectual capacity tests for all politicians over the age of 75.
