President Joe Biden told former President Barack Obama he is planning on running for a second presidential term in 2024, according to sources for The Hill.
The president has made comments alluding to a second run. He told ABC’s David Muir he would run again, as long as “fate” is on his side.
One of the sources for The Hill said Biden “thinks he’s the only one who can beat Trump. I don’t think he thinks there’s anyone in the Democratic party who can beat Trump and that’s the biggest factor.”
The most likely scenario of President Biden running again would be determined by someone other than himself — former President Donald Trump, according to Politico. If the former Republican president runs again, Biden has made it clear it would “increase the prospect” even more.
What is President Biden’s approval rating?
An NBC News poll ranked Biden’s approval rating at 40%, hitting a new low for the Democratic president.
Cost of living, jobs and the economy were ranked as the most important issues for poll respondents, and some Americans don’t like what Biden is doing in those areas.
Biden’s age remains a concern for some voters. He was the oldest president to take office at the age of 78, and at the beginning of his second term, he would be 82 years old. A Politico poll found that 48% of respondents did not view the president as mentally fit to run again.
Are there other Democratic candidates vying for the presidency?
If Biden doesn’t run, Vice President Kamala Harris seems like the most likely candidate for the job.
“No sitting vice president who has publicly sought their party’s nomination has failed to get it, going back to Nixon,” a Democratic consultant told Vanity Fair (warning: strong language).
Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s secretary of transportation, seems like another likely bid, as well as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, according to the Washington Post.
The 2022 midterms could be provide some of the first answers as to what to expect in the 2024 election.