Joe Biden launches 2024 re-election bid

New Delhi, April 25

US President Joe Biden officially announced on Tuesday that he would seek a second term in the 2024 election. “When I ran for President four years ago, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we will have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer,” Biden said in a video announcement.

Joe and I look forward to finishing the job, says VP Harris

This is a pivotal moment in history. We must come together to fight for democracy and development. Joe and I look forward to finishing the job. Kamala Harris, US Vice-president

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian-American and African-American heritage, would be his running mate for the 2024 presidential election. Though Biden is the oldest US President at the age of 80, what has worked in Biden’s favour is that the other two potential candidates — Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — have worse favorability ratings than him.

The 2024 elections may well see another contest between Biden and Donald Trump, provided the latter wins the Republican primaries. Trump had said in November that he would contest for a third time.

A National Public Radio (NPR) poll said while Biden has the upper hand on foreign policy, LGBTQ rights and policies for minorities, the economy would be an area of vulnerability for Biden with just 38 per cent voters approving his handling of the economy, which has been hit by inflation and slow growth.

Biden had run the previous campaign by accusing Trump of pandering to racist and antidemocratic sentiments. If the images from the January 6 riots at the Capitol and aggressive protests over the Supreme Court decision overturning abortion rights in the three-minute video announcing Biden’s candidature are any indication, the same issues will be flagged again by the Democrats.

The Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement that Biden is “out of touch” and blamed him for the rising inflation, crime rate and fentanyl trafficking. Biden was able to win last time by conquering five states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona — that Trump had won in 2016.

Poll: Neither Biden nor Trump should run

• About half of Democrats respondents said Joe Biden should not seek re-election and that he is too old to run
• By comparison, only 35% of registered Republicans said Trump, 76, was too old
• Only 41% of respondents, including 74% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans, approved of Biden’s run as President
• About two-thirds of the overall respondents, unenthused by the prospect of a rematch between Biden and Trump, did not want either to run again